The United States has evidently failed to dissuade Iran from building nuclear weapons, a failure that was predictable once Iran perceived that President Obama was disinclined to use force to accomplish the goal.
That leaves the matter of how to stop Iran in the hands of the Israelis who believe with considerable justification that a nuclear Iran is an existential threat. The Israelis are not the only actors in the region who are terrified of Iran's nuclear ambitions and disappointed in America's lack of resolve. In the Middle East the aphorism that the enemy of my enemy is my friend results in some very strange arrangements:
Saudi Arabia has conducted tests to stand down its air defences to enable Israeli jets to make a bombing raid on Iran's nuclear facilities, The Times can reveal.
In the week that the UN Security Council imposed a new round of sanctions on Tehran, defence sources in the Gulf say that Riyadh has agreed to allow Israel to use a narrow corridor of its airspace in the north of the country to shorten the distance for a bombing run on Iran.
To ensure the Israeli bombers pass unmolested, Riyadh has carried out tests to make certain its own jets are not scrambled and missile defence systems not activated. Once the Israelis are through, the kingdom's air defences will return to full alert.
"The Saudis have given their permission for the Israelis to pass over and they will look the other way," said a US defence source in the area. "They have already done tests to make sure their own jets aren't scrambled and no one gets shot down. This has all been done with the agreement of the [US] State Department."
Sources in Saudi Arabia say it is common knowledge within defence circles in the kingdom that an arrangement is in place if Israel decides to launch the raid. Despite the tension between the two governments, they share a mutual loathing of the regime in Tehran and a common fear of Iran's nuclear ambitions. "We all know this. We will let them [the Israelis] through and see nothing," said one.
There's more at the link. Israel may be able to set the Iranian program back, but the U.S. has the power to end it. What we don't have, unfortunately, is the will.
RLC
