Althouse: "President Obama must also reaffirm that — should diplomacy fail

September 26, 2009

"President Obama must also reaffirm that — should diplomacy fail — all options remain on the table."

The Iran sanctions bill.

41 comments:

Meade said...: If Obama were truly as smart as some people think he is, he'd replace Biden with Dick Cheney.; 9/26/09, 8:06 AM
AllenS said...: Amen, Meade.; 9/26/09, 8:14 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Biden's on Twitter now. He just tweeted that he is busy cutting Obama's waffles for him.; 9/26/09, 8:24 AM
The Drill SGT said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/26/09, 8:33 AM
The Drill SGT said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/26/09, 8:34 AM
MadisonMan said...: Why should we tip our hands to Iran about anything? I'd rather they were guessing.

That someone at The Weekly Standard applauds is not a ringing endorsement in my book.; 9/26/09, 8:36 AM
traditionalguy said...: The sound and fury signifying nothing in Congress. The Community Leader of the World is not going to try to intimidate the Murdering Tyrants who used to have to live in actual fear of past Presidents of the USA. Just try to understand, the greatest good for the greatest number approach for the world. There is no way Obama is going to sacrifice the world "Peace" by fighting for the interests of a single nation state located in a third of the North American Provence.; 9/26/09, 8:45 AM
The Drill SGT said...: The President should always have "all the options on the table", however, The O has already promised during the campaign that under no circumstances would he bomb Iran.

From the Iranian point of view, they know he is spineless, so additional posturing by Obama just makes himself weaker in their eyes.

McCain could have run a bombing bluff on Iran. Obama?, that's laughable...

America cast a feel good vote for the O, you get to feel good with "soft power" and dialogue with despots, but it is not goin to change anybody's actions.

Iran is going to get nukes, and then so will other Arabs as well as Chavez, Brazil, then Argentina.; 9/26/09, 8:45 AM
Anonymous said...: But all options are not on the table.

The President of the United States will never attack Iran, no matter what Iran does, until Iran uses a nuclear weapon.; 9/26/09, 8:47 AM
rhhardin said...: All options remain on the table.

No cliches from the Israelis, you'll notice.; 9/26/09, 8:56 AM
Anonymous said...: Sad thing is, Iran is so weak economically and militarily that it wouldn't take much effort on our part to give the people the leverage they need to change the regime.

A little push and the mullahs are gone taking with them most of the funding for Syria, Hezbollah & Hamas.; 9/26/09, 8:59 AM
Capt. Schmoe said...: Our Hebrew friends will have to take this on alone. It will be interesting to see if Obama the Despicable will lift a finger to defend Israel when the backlash occurs.

Somehow, I doubt it.; 9/26/09, 9:06 AM
Anonymous said...: Sadly, though, when Obama means all options are on the table, he includes pre-emptive capitulation.; 9/26/09, 9:06 AM
Anonymous said...: Our Hebrew friends will have to take this on alone.

Wouldn't be surprised if France provides some behind the scenes support & diplomatic cover when Israel does strike.; 9/26/09, 9:10 AM
The Drill SGT said...: Dogwood said...
Our Hebrew friends will have to take this on alone.

Wouldn't be surprised if France provides some behind the scenes support & diplomatic cover when Israel does strike.

A sad day when a Frog President has more spine than ours.; 9/26/09, 9:31 AM
Anonymous said...: A sad day when a Frog President has more spine than ours.

Yes indeed.; 9/26/09, 9:37 AM
miller said...: "All options are on the table" means "I might just go on SIX news shows this weekend."

What tyrant would believe Teh One™ would do anything?

You have this guy supporting the legally deposed leader of Honduras over those who followed the Honduran Constitution.

So a tyrant just has to be a tough guy and expect Teh One™ to try to be friends. I'm sure they see Russia and North Korean playing this game very well.; 9/26/09, 9:46 AM
Unknown said...: Politically charged or not, Dubya could and should have done something about this about 3 years ago.

Obambi is too busy singing "Kumbaya" to be bothered and, since it's becoming fairly obvious William Ayers ghost wrote his books, the question of whether he is actually capable of doing anything is taking on frightening import.; 9/26/09, 10:03 AM
Anonymous said...: Politically charged or not, Dubya could and should have done something about this about 3 years ago.

Agree, but I think W. exhausted his political capital with Iraq & Afghanistan and just didn't have the energy for another military mission in the Gulf.

A bit off topic, but I just read this piece by Michael Totten entitled The Arab Preference for War. Very interesting.; 9/26/09, 10:08 AM
Anonymous said...: Have you noticed that now that we have a weak president, Sarkozy and Brown are taking the lead, at least in rhetoric, in policing the world?

Makes me think that they all supported Bush's ends all along but let him take the heat.

Sarkozy Mocks Obama?; 9/26/09, 10:15 AM
Paul said...: "Iran is going to get nukes, and then so will other Arabs as well as Chavez, Brazil, then Argentina."

Yes and one day some lunatic will detonate one. The repercussions will be unimaginable, and the ultimate blame must be laid at the feet of the "progressive" movement in America for neutering the only super power who could have enforced nuclear non-proliferation.; 9/26/09, 10:47 AM
Steve M. Galbraith said...: The actions by Moscow and Beijing on this matter are absolutely appalling.

Yeah, not surprising but still disgusting.

And all we've heard over the past half-decade is denunciations of the evil cowboy torturer George Bush.

Meanwhile, the actions by Putin and Beijing have been far more destructive to anyone who believes in the "world community" or international law.

Showing once again that those terms are little more than bats to hit America or Israel with.

If Iran acquires a nuclear weapon we're looking at a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and elswhere. The entire nuclear non-proliferation structure - what is left of it - comes crashing down.

And with that, eventually, the use of these weapons somewhere at some time.

But hey, it's more fun to attack that idiot chimp Bush.; 9/26/09, 10:50 AM
traditionalguy said...: Paul...The job of enforcing nuclear non-proliferation is Obama's prize that he is keeping his eye fixed upon. That job must go to a UN World Body, but that plan can be activated only when the Crisis of every nation state with any extra money(Read: Drills for there own OIL)will start building their own fission device has sufficiently scared everyone. The USA keeping the Pax Americana going is no longer Mr Obama's goal, you may have noticed. The UN Body will simply "TAKE CHARGE" of all nuclear weapons to end the Crisis. Then as Obama has told us, the World will need only a small number of Nuclear weapons held by the UN Army and then the World can say that it has "eliminated nuclear weapons".; 9/26/09, 11:05 AM
Paul said...: Traditionalguy-

Nice little fantasy scenario there. Especially the part where a toothless world body "takes charge" of the nuclear arsenal of psychotic tyrant.

Seriously there will be a nuclear war at some point when every tin pot dictator and third world shithole has nukes and no one, least of all our enlightened progressive elitists, can begin to grasp the catastrophic ramifications.; 9/26/09, 11:27 AM
The Drill SGT said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/26/09, 11:36 AM
The Drill SGT said...: Seriously there will be a nuclear war at some point when every tin pot dictator and third world shithole has nukes and no one,

The first one won't be delivered by a tidy missile with radar fingerprints back to the launch site.

It will come into a busy harbor inside a container carried as deck cargo on a Liberian or Maltese freighter

no fingerprints; 9/26/09, 11:45 AM
William said...: Remember movies like Fail Safe and Dr Strangelove. Those movies pointed out the dangers of leaving nuclear weapons in the hands of the American military. Those nut cases usually voted Republican, and many of them went to church on Sunday. Unilateral nuclear disarment was the safest course of action given the existence of such monstruous people. Now that very strange people like A-Jad and Ill are in possession the correct meme is that containment has worked in the past and will continue to work in the future.....During the Cuban missle crisis, Castro recoommended that the Soviets launch a preemptive strike. What are the odds that Hollywood will ever make a movie about some third world general who thinks Coca Cola is giving his chilren cancer and decides to bomb the USA in retaliation?; 9/26/09, 11:46 AM
Wince said...: When I think of all the "repeated flouting"... I just go BERSERK!; 9/26/09, 11:51 AM
Methadras said...: Yeah, all options on the table, except for the real ones that matter. This guy will screw it up. Hail Jimmy Carter 2.; 9/26/09, 12:18 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: Obambi is too busy singing "Kumbaya".

You have recently read Ringo's "The Last Centurion" have you?

For those of you who don't read military sci-fi/fantasy, this latest book by John Ringo posits a world, set maybe a decade out, where we have invaded and mostly pacified Iran, similarly to how we did it in Iraq. Then, a Obama-like bleeding heart liberal is elected President. In this case, it is the first woman president, instead of the first (actually part) Black President. But otherwise, there are a lot of eerie similarities between the two. And the singing "Kumbaya" is one of them (that is one of the ways that the protagonist describes her and her Administration).

So, what happens is that there is a flu epidemic, like our H1N1, only a lot more virulent, killing maybe a 1/3 or so of the world's population. As a result, the President pulls our troops back to the U.S. from around the world, leaving huge stockpiles of weaponry for when we might come back. The protagonist is left with a company in Iran to protect the tanks, artillery, etc. for a division or so. Several were left in Iraq, but since they were putative allies, no guard was left there, and one of the dumps was right outside Baghdad, which meant that the Sunnis got it. Meanwhile, the sun had calmed out, reducing solar output, and a global cooling had started - while the clueless Administration was still operating as if they had Global Warming.

And with all of Ringo's protagonists, the hero survives. I am not giving that away, since the book is written as being somewhere between a memoir and a blog post.

I don't know when Ringo started writing the book, but I would almost have to guess that it was somewhere around when Obama got the nomination, or thereabouts. Very likely before he took office. That is somewhat relevant, as there are just too many parallels between his world of a decade out, and what we are seeing right now in ObamaLand.; 9/26/09, 1:02 PM
The Drill SGT said...: Loved the book, Bruce.

"they have Javelins?, that is a badness thing"

Obama is a tofu eater for sure.; 9/26/09, 1:15 PM
Cedarford said...: Capt. Schmoe said...
Our Hebrew friends will have to take this on alone. It will be interesting to see if Obama the Despicable will lift a finger to defend Israel when the backlash occurs.
Somehow, I doubt it.

I don't see Israel as any real ally of ours, just an obligation. They pursue their separate vital interests and have hardly given much over the years to show god faith.
They might start by dismantling their espionage networks here, 3rd behind China and Russia.

Israel lacks the capacity to effectively do long-range bombings. No other nation nearer Iran will permit a Zionist base on their soil. That leaves Israel the options, going it alone...of a "symbolic strike" they hope will drag the US into a 3rd major war against their will...or a 1st nuclear strike on some 40 hardened Iranian nuclear, military, and command and control sites.

Israel may indeed hope that they do a sneak attack and Americans guarding Iraqi airspace on authority of the Iraqi Gov't let them pass...which will then immediately restart the Iraqi War as Shiite militias and Iranian Pasardan and Revolutionary Guard sent across the Border start killing US troops and civilian workers.

No, it would be exceptionally foolhardy to become complicit with Israel...especially given a non-nuke attack by Zionists would fail, start a war with the US if we were complicit letting Israeli planes cross unchallenged (one of the great gifts Bush's noble Iraqi Freedom Lovers!!! gave him was the Iraq-Iran Mutual Defense Pact in 2006.)
And it could escalate worse to a closure of the Gulf, Global Depression, even an official Oil Embargo aimed at strangling Israel into powerlessness.
It is unlikely that - unless Israel secretly lines up "permissions" from Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, USA, France, Britain, Iraq to go to war with the understanding that an oil embargo will not happen that any nation will agree to become a target of the oil embargo in turn to "Save Our Special Friend".

Especially the US. It is one thing to have a 15% cut in our oil in 1973..that was painful. Now we are 70% dependent on foreign energy. Losing all suppliers save possibly Mexico and Canada if one is launched on the Zionists after an Iran attack would mean a near-instant economic collapse, DOW at 4,000 and likely end of the dollar.

So "Our Special Friend" is unlikely to be able to go it alone because it lacks non-nuclear capacity and is so reviled it is unlikely to get any green lights from any other nation.; 9/26/09, 2:34 PM
Alex said...: Once again warmongering neocons on the warpath! Beward the 101st Fighting Keyboardists!!! At Sarah Palin has skin in the game.; 9/26/09, 2:45 PM
Robert Cook said...: "John Ringo posits a world, set maybe a decade out, where we have invaded and mostly pacified Iran, similarly to how we did it in Iraq."

Oh, you mean by illegally invading a non-threatening nation based on a program of lies and propaganda, then turning the country into a blasted wasteland, by killing or causing to be killed hundreds of thousands of innocent citizens, forcing millions more into becoming refugees, all the while failing to rebuild the shattered infrastructure that we destroyed but for which supposed purpose billions of our dollars have been stolen from us only to end up in the pockets of crooked administration-connected contractors?

Sounds like a plan.

Honestly, that people here can advocate that we attack yet another non-threatening nation on the basis of no evidence but only fear-mongering whisper campaigns, promulgated by the same swine who were all wrong about Iraq, all while we continue bleeding lives and money in two miserable and interminable military boondoggles...is astonishing and dismaying.; 9/26/09, 6:35 PM
Anonymous said...: My first thought when I heard Iran had a second nuclear reactor was, how do we know this? Is this information from the same sources who told us Iraq had WMDs?

I frankly don't care if Iran has a nuclear program. The Soviet Union did too. They didn't launch on us cause we'd launch back. Fixing our economy is a lot more important than fighting endless costly wars on the other side of the planet.

We need to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan. And if Israel tries to send airplanes through Iraqi airspace to bomb Iran, we should do what Zbigniew Brzezinski suggested last week--send up our planes to make them turn back.; 9/27/09, 12:01 AM
Unknown said...: The weekly standard already conned America into one war. Why should we trust one word of what they say about this?

Besides - the neocons don't have America's interests at heart - they have Israel's. Except they even have that wrong - as most Israeli's don't buy the neocons' agenda. And Israel is strong enough to protect herself.; 9/27/09, 12:43 AM
miller said...: Wow. What a powerful magazine - able to turn 300 million people like the rudder of the Titanic.

Imagine if they used their force for good!

Zelaya is already known to be crazy for seeing Israeli agents everywhere poisoning him and making him do strange things. I laugh at that -- and laugh at anyone who falls into the same line of thinking, that there are secret agents secretly getting us to do another nation's bidding.; 9/27/09, 9:23 AM
Anonymous said...: Miller: " I laugh at that -- and laugh at anyone who falls into the same line of thinking, that there are secret agents secretly getting us to do another nation's bidding."

Who said they were secret? We all knew the names Doug Feith, Richard Perle, Elliott Abrams, John Boulton, Paul Wolfowitz, Charles Krauthammer, Judith Miller and numerous others. And if we followed the news closely we all knew what country they really cared about. Hint. It wasn't the US.; 9/27/09, 1:34 PM
miller said...: Duscany:

Nonsense.

Now go back and put your tin-foil hat back on so your mind isn't controlled by Zionist death-rays.; 9/27/09, 4:02 PM
miller said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/27/09, 4:19 PM
Methadras said...: Bruce. I'm a huge fan of Ringo. I remember when he was just a forum poster on the Baen's books site back in 2000 or so.; 9/29/09, 12:19 AM