I’m puzzled by all the neoconservative bloviating and war-whooping about Iran and the near deathly silence about the deteriorating situation in Pakistan. I mean, we have actual terrorist training camps in Waziristan that are just sitting there, ripe targets for the sort of quick special forces strikes that the Turks are laying on the PKK in Northern Kurdistan (with our not-so-tacit approval). But I haven’t read much in the Weekly Standard about the need to act against Al-Qaeda-Not-in-Iraq. Bill K, N-Pod, you remember Osama, right? What gives?
In that regard, I thought Barack Obama’s utter sanity with regard to Iran in the NY Times today was pretty striking. He may well be disputed by Hillary Clinton on this again over preconditions and who meets whom first. He probably should be saying, “I’ll have my Secretary of State initiate talks and if things look promising, I may jump in myself…” But talk we must, and lower the temperature.
Is it possible that the reason why the neos are so obsessed with Iran and relatively silent on Pakistan (which, you may recall, actually has nukes) is that–ok, I’ll go ahead and say it–Israel is obsessed over Iran? Indeed, Israel has a right to be obsessed. It’s not just because of–or even mostly because of–Iran’s nuclear program, either. It’s because of Iran’s military and financial support for Hizballah, which fought the vaunted Israeli defense forces more successfully than any other Arab army in history during the summer of 2006 and continues to fester just beyond the northern fence.
I agree that Iran is a matter of real concern for us. But it is not our top concern. It is Israel’s top concern. Our top concerns are resolving the disaster in Iraq and preventing a disaster in Pakistan–and trying, once again, to dismantle the hierarchy of Al-Qaeda-Not-In-Iraq. And, most of all, as Senator Obama implied, our top priority is changing our posture toward the Islamic world from being a bully to being a reasonable interlocutor that doesn’t abandon our principles or allies (including Israel) or our legitimate campaign against the Salafists who’ve attacked us, but listens carefully to what those who oppose us have to say and makes it our business to seek peaceful resolutions where possible.