White House: Netanyahu, Obama To Meet In Washington On March 5
U.S. President Barack Obama will host a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on March 5, the White House said on Monday, a session that will likely center on the West's efforts to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions.
A White House statement rounding up the recent Israel visit by Obama's National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, which announced the date for the upcoming meeting, indicated that the top advisor discussed the "full range of security issues of mutual concern" during his meetings with Israeli leadership.
Netanyahu Obama - GPO - 20.5.11
"The visit is part of the continuous and intensive dialogue between the United States and Israel and reflects our unshakeable commitment to Israels security," the statement added.
Donilon's visit, as well as the planned Netanyahu-Obama meeting, came at a time of intense speculation concerning the possibility that Israel may initiate a strike against Iran's nuclear weapons over its fears the Islamic Republic is progressing toward nuclear weapons capability.
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http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/white-house-netanyahu-obama-to-meet-in-washington-on-march-5-1.413816
JCMach1
(27,556 posts)He will guarantee support to Netanyahu after that.
That's the end-game.
Obamacare
(277 posts)LeftishBrit
(41,205 posts)When has the USA ever fought a war for Israel?
Israel has fought wars for itself of course; but that is another matter.
Javaman
(62,517 posts)that if they bomb, they are on their own.
that's enough for yahoo to cut his bullshit.
peace frog
(5,609 posts)Can't imagine Obama do anything so idiotic as to embroil us in an Israeli/Iranian war, particularly in an election year.
Israel doesn't have the balls to go it alone and I doubt very much our President wants us to become further embroiled in this idiocy.
(DISCLAIMER: When I say "Israel" I mean Netanyahu. I've known Israelis and they're good people. He's a turd that's going to get a lot more of his people killed.)
MrBig
(640 posts)When people feel threatened, whether rightfully or due to fear created by media, their instinct is to support people who claim they can protect the populace. It's unfortunate that this way of thinking has led to the election (and/or re-election) of leaders like Bush, Netanyahu, Ahmadinejad, etc.
LeftishBrit
(41,205 posts)Nothing like a good Enemy, real or imagined, to rally a population round its dear leader.
LeftishBrit
(41,205 posts)I think Obama will try and calm things down.
It's not as if there wasn't enough going on in the Middle East as a whole already, without the perennial sabre-rattling by the Israeli and Iranian leadership reaching boiling point, to mix my metaphors.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)But somehow, I don't think the guy ordering hits all over the globe is going to be too harsh on Mr. Netanyahu if Israel really wants to get the action going with Iran. And what's the counterargument? "It's okay for us to snuff folks by remote control, even when we don't know who we're killing, but you have to rein in your militaristic impulses no matter how good a case you can build for feeling threatened." I don't think Netanyahu will regard that as much of a deterrent. He also surely knows that he can rally a hard nut of unquestioning support for any military action Israel undertakes from hardline Israeli supporters in the Jewish community, bloodthirsty fundamentalists itching for Armageddon, and cynical politicians looking to score political points. Nobody in the popular media will dare question it, either.
Javaman
(62,517 posts)Do as I say, not as I do.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)No nation or empire in the history of the world has been as good and righteous as the United States. We will surely avoid the unpleasant denouement of all those other bad nations.
Javaman
(62,517 posts)LOL Cheers!
24601
(3,959 posts)fascisthunter
(29,381 posts)so if he says no, the right wing media and paid pundits will claim Obama isn't on Israel's side. I hope he does the right thing and tells them to fuck off!
stockholmer
(3,751 posts)ISRAEL will ultimately decide on its own whether to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, its military chief of staff says, as a senior US official arrived for talks on the Islamic Republic.
"Israel is the central guarantor of its own security; this is our role as army, the State of Israel should defend itself," Lieutenant General Benny Gantz told state-owned Channel One TV.
"We must follow the developments in Iran and its nuclear project, but in a very broad manner, taking into account what the world is doing, what Iran decided, what we will do or not do," he said.
In recent weeks, there has been feverish speculation that Israel was getting closer to mounting a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear program, though Israel has denied reaching such a decision.
Tensions between Iran and Israel have been simmering with Iranian warships entering the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal in a show of "might", a move Israel said it would closely monitor.
snip
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U.S. concerned that Barak is pushing for Israeli attack on Iran
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-concerned-that-barak-is-pushing-for-israeli-attack-on-iran-1.413537
Visits to Jerusalem by senior U.S. officials this week reflect a growing concern in Washington over the possibility that Israel will decide to attack nuclear sites in Iran. The Americans are particularly worried about the hawkish line that Defense Minister Ehud Barak has adopted on the matter. They apparently have the impression, however, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to come to a final stance on the dispute.
The number of visits that have been made here by senior members of President Barack Obamas administration in recent months is unusual. A delegation headed by U.S. National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon arrived Saturday evening; and later this week, Israel will host James Clapper, the director of National Intelligence. On separate visits this past fall, the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency, David Petraeus, paid a visit to Israel, as did U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, whose trip here came shortly after a visit to the United States by Barak.
Last month, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, came to Israel, not long after taking office. In another two weeks, Netanyahu will be in Washington to deliver an address before the policy conference of the pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The Israeli premier is also expected to meet with Obama in the course of the visit. Even prior to that, next week, Defense Minister Barak will apparently make his own trip to the U.S. capital to meet with senior administration officials.
This air bridge between Israel and the United States has one primary purpose ? to make clear to Israel that the time has not yet come for military action against Irans nuclear program, and that any premature assault would disrupt the increasingly stringent process of international sanctions against Iran that Obama has been leading.
snip
Purveyor
(29,876 posts)the bank.
boppers
(16,588 posts)Let 'em live 20 centuries ago. They seem pretty dedicated to that idea.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)snake and the mongoose.
unkachuck
(6,295 posts)....what nuclear weapons?....has colon powell found some Iranian WMD we haven't heard about?
....if Israel attacks Iran, it will prove once and for all, that Israel is the Middle Easts' true renegade nation....if Iran wants to ever live in peace, it had better develop nuclear weapons as soon as possible, to defend itself from Israeli/US aggression....
....nuclear weapons has saved North Korea....
"if Israel attacks Iran, it will prove once and for all, that Israel is the Middle Easts' true renegade nation...."
So if Iran attacks Israel, does that make them the Middle Easts' true renegade nation? Or will that simply be chalked up to "protection against Israeli threats". Just checking to see if you're consistent.
LeftishBrit
(41,205 posts)'Nuclear weapons have saved North Korea' - from what and from whom?
I certainly don't support an attack on Iran; but the idea that they or anyone should 'develop nuclear weapons as soon as possible' is scary and ridiculous. We want fewer nuclear weapons in the world, not more!
P.S. do you think that any country attacking another makes it a 'renegade nation'; if so there are plenty of renegade nations in the Middle East, and in the world at large including our own.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)all sorts of complicating questions later on.
There is a parallel purpose there. Beyond that, I don't think too many people really know what Obama really wants or intends to do. Now, that is truly frightening.