What Is This World Coming To?

Former Clinton official Anthony Cordesman addressed a recent meeting of the Institute of National Security Studies regarding the probability of an Israel air strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

According to Cordesman, as reported by the Jerusalem Post, the United States has refused to give Israel permission for the airstrike. Cordesman said that IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi was notified of the United States’ stance regarding Iran by Joint Chief’s Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen.

The US opted at this point to stick to the diplomatic track in its efforts to keep Iran from going nuclear, and has made clear to Israel that it shouldn’t attack Iran without White House approval, Cordesman said.

He added that the current US policy is likely to remain unchanged at least until the next US president is sworn in.

One would think that a guy like Cordesman, with his Pentagon background, would understand the importance of military intelligence in keeping the enemy guessing. Ahmadinejad doesn’t need to guess.

All he needs to do is read the Western media. Which is why the same issue of the Jerusalem Post also has a headline reading, “Israel, US, Wouldn’t Dare Attack Iran.”

Former US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton believes that puts Israel in an impossible situation.

Jerusalem is increasingly convinced that Iran will acquire nuclear weapons in the absence of military intervention by Israel or the US. But Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has indicated that if he is elected, he will take the military option for dealing with Iran off the table.

If Obama wins the presidential election in November, Israel will know that it has less than two months to hit Iran, or have its greatest existential nightmare come true, Bolton told a leading British newspaper last month.