Tuesday July 28, 2009

I've Been Thinking:

Not only was President Obama's Special Envoy George Mitchell in Israel yesterday, but so was US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

Israel's political leadership is often so busy meeting foreign dignitaries and world Jewish leaders that it is a true modern day miracle that they have time left over to deal with their own issues and lead the country.

Gates finished up in Jerusalem and hopped over to Amman, Jordan to talk about Israel and Iran.
The secretary of defense told the Jordanians that Israel and the UN are, more or less, on the same page.
Gates made it clear that the Obama administration is not toying with Iran and if Iran balks at the US overtures there will increased sanctions against Iran.

The only problem with Gates' approach is that it wastes a great deal of time.
The process of reinventing the wheel and realizing that Iran's behaviors have nothing to do with United States policy towards them and everything to do with the fact that they choose to be that way has set back a serious program and taken away the momentum that had gathered before Obama stepped into office.

European diplomats are frustrated with the United States’ very strange approach to Iran. Europeans hope that Obama learns his lessons quickly - before the United States looses all credibility on all issues Iranian.

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