“If Israel has to take action on its own, in order to stop Iran from developing that capability the governor would respect that decision.”
~Romney’s chief Mideast adviser 

I support Israel’s right to defend itself from an attack from any country.  I have written extensively about the atrocities that Israel commits relative to Palestine; I still contend they are an Apartheid state …. you can read more about that HERE.  So – we need not conflate the two very different policies … on one hand you have Iran and on the other you have Palestine.  Now – relative to Iran … DEFENDING ONESELF from an attack is not the same thing as unilaterally attacking a country via the Bush doctrine i.e. a pre-emptive strike.  By definition … if you attack another country with military force … YOU are the aggressor.

Should that happen – Iran would be the country defending itself and it would then have the right to defend itself by attacking Israel (and it would).  Every country reserves the right to defend itself from an attack after all and Iran would have the moral high ground to retaliate.  This of course would embroil America in yet another war with another country in the mideast with a heavy Muslim population who COINCIDENTALLY has lots of oil.  *wink*

And even though Obama escalated the number of troops in Afghanistan – he pulled us out of Iraq and has resisted the neocon calls for war with Iran.  Many pro-war advocates who really want that oil have called Obama “weak” and compared him to Jimmy Carter for his unwillingness to attack Iran.  Romney knows who his base is … he said he’s definitely in.  Essentially … he’s saying – LET’S GO GET THAT OIL!

Fun fact: Iran has never attacked another country in modern history.  Another fun fact – America and Britain overthrew the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran because he wanted to sell oil to the highest bidder via “free markets” as opposed to letting the British steal their oil from them.  If you don’t know that story – then you won’t understand Iran’s distrust of America.   Read about that HERE.

Politico reports HERE:

Mitt Romney would stand by Israel if the country launches a unilateral attack on Iran to stop Tehran from building nuclear weapons, a top adviser to the presidential candidate said Sunday.

Striking a hawkish tone aimed at both Israeli’s leaders and voters back home, Senor argued that keeping the threat of a military strike available offered the best chance for peace.

Also – Romney’s press secretary told Politico this:

“Gov Romney has said that the key to a peaceful resolution is a credible military option.   Gov Romney has said the United States should reserve the right to use military force.  Israel has the same right.”

And Romney said this in Israel today – article HERE:

“We must not delude ourselves into thinking that containment is an option.  We must lead the effort to prevent Iran from building and possessing nuclear weapons capability. We should employ any and all measures to dissuade the Iranian regime from its nuclear course, and it is our fervent hope that diplomatic and economic measures will do so. In the final analysis, of course, no option should be excluded. We recognize Israel’s right to defend itself, and that it is right for America to stand with you.”

Of course it’s not a peaceful option after you have already attacked first.  And former Israeli Mossad chief - Meir Dagan – called a strike on Iran “the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard”.  We wrote about that HERE.

And interestingly – HuffPo is reporting that the Obama administration’s top administration official already met with people from Israel and have drawn up the plans for attacking Iran HERE.  The Israelis are denying it.  Obviously – that’s politics on the eve of Romney’s visit.  If they did or didn’t – the Israelis would deny it.  I find it highly unlikely given the nature of Obama’s political tone on Iran.  The Obama administration is likely trying to blunt any potential criticism by Romney that Obama is not a good friend to Israel.  Wow – we’re really beholden to these guys.  I love it when people running for president try to prove who is more beholden to a foreign country more.  It’s unbelievable.

Israel is not viewed favorably in the world but it is in the United States.  In the world – Israel is only slightly more favorable than Pakistan, North Korea, and Iran.  (source)

And Israeli Prime Minister REALLY wants to go to war with Iran … if you didn’t see his interview with Erin Burnett that is reminiscent of every Bush administration official pre-Iraq … you should HERE; an excerpt:

Burnett: How do you know what <Iran is> doing?
Netanyahu: Oh, we know.
Burnett: You know?
Netanyahu: We know and others know and we share what we know.

Well that’s just brilliant.  I guess we should just take your word for it huh.

And even though 75% of Americans do not support getting involved in an Iranian/Israeli war (source)… the real reason the Israeli administration needs an American president willing to double team Iran is because of Israeli politics.  As we have written HERE – 58% of Israelis do NOT support a unilateral strike on Iran without the backing of the United States.

Make no mistake about it … “supporting Israel” in a unilateral strike is tantamount to America getting in another war.  It’s mission creep.  And there is a very important reason that America wants to make Iran its 51st state …. oil and natural gas in the Caspian sea (and geopolitics).  I’ve written about this somewhat HERE:

“Those that control the oil routes out of Central Asia will impact all future direction and quantities of flow and the distribution of revenues from new production.”
~James Dorian, Oil and Gas Journal, September 10, 2001 

But if you really want to understand the politics behind a war with Iran and how it impacts who – you should read “America’s Shadow War With Iran“.

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