Friday, September 14, 2012

Troubles on the Horizon

By December of this year the Legislative and Executive departments of the United States Government will have to do what they hate. They must settle the financial ramifications of defending this country -- and if it wishes -- its allies also. As little as it has been profitable politically to address or even take notice of these issues during the campaign season, these matters will be front and center by January 1. We might as well prepare for them right now.
To begin with, there is the real possibility that Israel will launch a preemptive strike on Iranian nuclear weapon development facilities. Some say this will occur before the U.S. elections and others say it will be afterward. In any case, the personal animosity between Obama and Netanyahu has not helped thoughtful coordination between Israel and the U.S. The Iranian response to the Israeli action we already know or reasonably suspect: an attempt will be made to close the Strait of Hormuz and strangle petroleum transport from Persian Gulf countries. And, of course, a furious counter-strike by Iranian air assets and missiles on Israel. The entire Middle East would be in danger of conflagration.
The killing of the American ambassador and three staffers in Benghazi came only briefly after the well-organized attack on the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on 9/11/12. Purportedly these activities were due to an insulting depiction of the Prophet Mohammed in an American internet film trailer. The calculus of Washington's diplomatic relations in North Africa and throughout the Islamic world has become far less stable.

Read more: http://spectator.org/archives/2012/09/14/troubles-on-the-horizon

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