Barack Obama has called Iran an “existential threat to Israel” and says he understands why Israel feels it may need to launch unilateral air strikes to take out the Islamic nation’s developing nuclear program.
The comments come ahead of Obama’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenjahu and appear in an interview with American magazine Newsweek.
“I understand very clearly that Israel considers Iran an existential threat, and given some of the statements that have been made by [Iranian] President [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, you can understand why,” Obama says in the interview.
Regarding concerns that Israel might carry out a unilateral air strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, Obama said that since Israel is “right there in the range” of Iranian missiles, “their calculation of costs and benefits are going to be more acute.”
Obama remarked that he did not think it was his place to “determine for the Israelis what their security needs are.”
Obama also said he is “not naive” in his approach that looks to shift US policy and attitudes towards the Middle East.
“I’ve been very clear that I don’t take any options off the table with respect to Iran. I don’t take options off the table when it comes to US security, period,” Obama said.
“We want to offer Iran an opportunity to align itself with international norms and international rules. I think, ultimately, that will be better for the Iranian people. I think that there is the ability of an Islamic Republic of Iran to maintain its Islamic character while, at the same time, being a member in good standing of the international community and not a threat to its neighbors,” he said in the interview.
“I assure you, I’m not naive about the difficulties of a process like this. If it doesn’t work, the fact that we have tried will strengthen our position in mobilizing the international community, and Iran will have isolated itself, as opposed to a perception that it seeks to advance that somehow it’s being victimized by a US government that doesn’t respect Iran’s sovereignty,” Obama said.
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Of course if Israel attacks Iran the day after will be hard to live with. Rockets and missiles raining down, killing thousands of Israeli’s, the world economy in a shambles because of Israel’s attack, US gas prices at $10-15 a gallon, yeah, Americans will really love Israel then.
What’s left of Israel will be reviled by the entire world, staring a World War just so it can steal more land and resources but ultimately destroy a nation.
@ bbsnews
What an ass! Man, when people like you post such stupid comments, I just laugh. How the hell did you get through school, because you obviously with all the information that has been out there for the past 50 years, still don’t understand the position that Israel is in. Put yourself in their shoes and then tell us all what you would do?
Here is a litle lesson for you:
The difference between Moses and Ghandi
The Hebrew Bible shares only three incidents in Moses’ life prior to G-d choosing him as a leader and prophet:
1) As a young man, Moses “goes out among his brethren” and sees an Egyptian overseer brutally beating a Hebrew. He strikes down the oppressor, burying him in the sand. (Exodus 2:11-12)
2) The next day, Moses attempts to pacify two fighting Hebrews, admonishing, “Why do you strike your fellow?!” The aggressor is indignant and says, “Who appointed you as a prince and leader over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Realizing that his actions of the previous day had already become known, Moses escapes from Egypt and finds refuge in Midian. (ibid., verses 13-15)
3) In Midian, Moses probably wants nothing more than peace and tranquility. Instead, he finds himself embroiled in yet another conflict. He witnesses the local shepherds bullying a group of girls who came to draw water from a well. He immediately rises to their defense, driving off the offending shepherds. (ibid., v. 17)
These are the only episodes the Torah explicitely relates about Moses (besides the circumstances of his birth) prior to his selection by G-d as a leader. They express a paradigm indispensable to leadership: A leader must have the courage to battle injustice wherever it exists. In all three instances, Moses is deeply committed to fighting injustice. He intervenes when a non-Jew oppresses a Jew, when two Jews fight, and when non-Jewish men oppress non-Jewish women.
When it is necessary to kill, he is prepared to kill. When it is sufficient to speak, he suffices with verbal rebuke; when it is necessary to fight, he is prepared to fight. One who rejects the choice of aggression out of a sense of compassion may be a kind human being, but a wholly inadequate leader, because the long-term violence resulting from a failure to battle evil is far worse than the violence of the battle itself.
In modern terms, Moses is politically incorrect. He does not lecture the Egyptian taskmaster about the cycle of violence or give him a lesson on rage management. Moses knows that by the time he will complete his lecture, the Hebrew might be dead. Moses is aware that at times, violence is a moral, though difficult, choice. It saves the lives of the innocent.
Prohibiting moral killing guarantees immoral killing. It is “violence” used by police that stops violent criminals from murdering and hurting innocent people. There are many innocent men and women alive today solely because someone used violence to save their lives. If someone had killed the hijackers of 9/11 before they commandeered the planes, thousands of lives would have been saved.
Gandhi’s Advice
Throughout history, many chose not to emulate Moses’ example. During the Second World War, for example, when it appeared that Nazi Germany would attempt to capture England, Mahatma Gandhi offered the British the following advice:
“I would like you to lay down the arms you have which are useless for saving you or humanity. You will invite Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini to take what they want of the countries you call your possessions. Let them take possession…. If these gentlemen choose to occupy your homes, you will vacate them. If they do not give you free passage out, you will allow yourself, man, woman and child, to be slaughtered, but you will refuse to owe allegiance to them.”
To the Jews of Germany, Gandhi offered a similar message:
“I am as certain as I am dictating these words that the stoniest German heart will melt [if only the Jews] adopt active non-violence. Human nature… unfailingly responds to the advances of love. I do not despair of his [Hitler's] responding to human suffering even though caused by him.”
Had Gandhi convinced the English to lay down their arms and practice non-violence, the Jewish people would have been annihilated, democracy and human rights would have disappeared, and our world would have been plunged into a new Dark Age of unimaginable cruelty. War, while always unfortunate and painful, is not always evil; sometimes, fighting a war is the most moral thing to do.
Astonishingly, the nation that Moses created has in recent years emulated Gandhi rather than Moses. With the Oslo accords, we invited our sworn enemies to take parts of our homeland in the belief that they would reciprocate with peace and good will. Instead of declaring outright war against the terrorists and their infrastructure, we chose to practice restraint and non-violent diplomacy. Many of us believed then, and some still believe, that the stoniest terrorist heart will melt in response to our peaceful advances.
War, Dishonor, or Both?
In 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain appeased Adolf Hitler by allowing the German Fuhrer to occupy the Sudetenland for a mere promise of peace. Chamberlain then returned to England and announced that he had brought “Peace in our time.” Winston Churchill denounced him as a naive appeaser who believed that he could buy Hitler’s good will by giving in to his immoral demands: “You were given a choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war.”
Sadly, the same has transpired with Israel. By relinquishing parts of our homeland, Israel chose dishonor. In return, Israel received war. Today, we are in the midst of the worst bloodletting in Israeli history. The relentless terror is a direct result of the tragic policy that believes in appeasing terrorists and not destroying them. Appeasement is suicidal for the innocent and ensures victory for the evil.
The terror war on Israel, like World War II, is a war against the Jews. Losing is catastrophic. Losing is not an option. This is no time for appeasement or restraint. This is a time for righteous might.
The prophets of Israel were the first to conceive of peace as an ideal. Isaiah gave voice to the great words engraved in the imagination of the West: “Nation shall not lift up sword against Nation; neither shall they learn war anymore.” But the way to hasten Isaiah’s vision is to fight evil, not allow it to flourish.
At another time, when the Jews needed to forcefully confront their enemies, the prophet Joel declared, “Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears.” The use of moral violence must always be the last resort. But when all other attempts fail, righteous might is the only response to immoral violence
Obama knows no one important reads Newsweek anymore. He’s just trying to sound like a strong leader after giving the whole world notice that he isn’t. Must be losing significant numbers of Jewish supporters.
Excelent responce Leonard, except for the choice of the word “jew(s)” which should’ve read “Israelites”, as those who call themselves Jews can only be those who are descendents of one of the 12 Tribes of Israel – namely the Tribe of Judah.
The West and its offspring in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, S. Africa, Rhodesia and some other pockets in the world are mostly the descendents of the other 11 Tribes of Israel.
See:
http://www.biblestudysite.com:80/migrationmap...
http://www.scripturesforamerica.org/html2/jm0060.htm
@ bbsnews
Whan an ass man! Didn’t you know it was Jeovah who created earth some 5 th. years ago? Hadn’t you heard Israel’s elite is fulfiling the comeback promise – even if the Torah says it’s not the way? Didn’t you expect some intelligence coming out of the place, to smash any naive comment you may have about expansionism and death? Leonard has being doing quiet a lot of Torah reading, so you beter repent man, because that’s the word, period. Just surrender to evidence: No ape thing ever, man, just drop down your science studies and kneel down before History as it is. A Capital issue. Period.
@ Amaro
If you look at the Torah as a book of lessons to learn from and incorporate into your life, you might understand it better. But if you see it as too many do, and beleive that every word was an actual event, well then you are going to have issues with understanding the lessons of the Torah. Can you not see the teaching in the story above? Please don’t mock what you don’t really understand.
@ Aryan.
Your name says it all. Yes I read your attatched link and it is very sad that you are nothing but a sheep following who and whatever feeds your own anger and hatred.
Ask yourself if these things that you beleive, are from your own reading and learning and understand, or from what other hate filled ignorant people have placed in your head.
Ask yourself these questions and answer yourself honestly:
1. How many Jews do I actually know personally? ( not liberals lefties, but religious conservatives)
2. How many books on Judaism and jewish wisdom have I actually read from front to back?
3. Would you I safer walking the streets of Jordan, Eqgypt, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza or in the streets of Israel?
Stop being so ignorant, and educate yourself. Don’t let others implant their agendas onto you, because in the end YOU loose.
To Leonard, who is obviously a jew:
Everyone hates you. Go home.
Mike, where is home exactly? Your fellow countrymen took my home country of South Africa and gave it to the communists,
and you figured that out all by yourself, wow. I am also a BOER. So I guess you are stuck with me in the USA. Hehe
as some say here in the US. Don’t be a hater.
“Every truth passes through three stages before it is recognized. In the first it is ridiculed, in the second it is opposed, in the third it is regarded as self-evident” – Arthur Schopenhauer (German Philosopher, 1788-1860).
@leonard
please correct your “quote” of Ghandi as an implausible para-phrase. in fact, just remove it, as there’s no written document or transcript of peace in which ghandi said any of those things. thank you.