RSSWill She, Or Won’t She? An Opinion
Gene Lalor | April 24, 2009
Clairol’s old ad asked the tantalizing question, “Does she, or doesn’t she?” posing the Earth-shaking question of whether some woman dyed her hair or not but subliminally asking all kinds of other questions about said woman and what she does and doesn’t do.
The title question, “Will she, or won’t she?” is similarly packed with innuendo but related to significantly more profound import, namely, Will Israel attack Iran before Iran 
is nuclear-capable and missile-capable of reducing much of Israel to a glowing, molten puddle.
The stakes are incredibly high, not only for the State of Israel 
but for the United States, the Mid East, Western Europe, and much of the rest of the globe.
Should Israel stage a pre-emptive assault on Ahmadinejad’s nuclear and nuclear- delivery facilities, it would face a severely adverse reaction from a world and a United Nations which historically haven’t wildly embraced either Jews or their homeland. Should Israel not attack Iran and have one or more of its cities obliterated, its retaliation against Iran would surely be far worse than pre-emptive surgical strikes.
What to do?
To say the geopolitical situation is complex and grave would be gross oversimplification. Israel has often shown it doesn’t conduct its foreign policy with a watchful, cautious eye toward international or American opinion even though the United States is its chief benefactor, arms supplier, and possibly its lone, reliable ally. However, change is in the air and its new, feisty prime minister, Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu seems well aware that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are no George Bush and Condi Rice.
The Bush administration often demonstrated a total, unflinching commitment to the State of Israel. Despite the support of the vast majority of American Jewish voters for Obama and despite the very powerful Jewish Lobby in this country, the Obama administration has been less than committed, and Bibi is well aware of that as well.
What to do?
Political considerations are never simple matters. Even Julius Caesar, backed by the indomitable Roman army, had to placate, cajole, and intimidate when necessary the various factions in Rome as well as in the provinces. Israel is no Rome and Netanyahu is no Caesar and his options are very few and very limited.
How would the United States react to such a strike? Israel has acted unilaterally before when it staged successful raids on Libya and at Entebbe and survived the resultant and anticipated condemnation, so it has established precedents. Still, the attack on Libya and the rescue of the hostages at Entebbe in Uganda would be small potatoes compared to the all-out and coordinated effort required to eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat.
What to do?
An indigestible bone of contention exists in the Islamic world, and especially among Israel’s neighbors, that the Jewish state is a known nuclear power even if it has never conceded that fact. Israel has never signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, the NPT, leading its neighbors to feel not only justifiably slighted that Israel was permitted by the international community to go nuclear while Muslim nations may not, but also feeling isolated and defenseless against Israel. Sheer mass of numbers pale as a deterrent to nuclear clouds.
Muslims have a valid basis for charging discrimination by the “haves” against the “have-nots,” although prudence dictates that additional proliferation of nuclear weapons is not in the region’s or the world’s best interests. This is particularly true since “the bomb” in the hands of unstable leaders, many of whom are committed to genocidal use thereof, could return the Mid East to the Stone Age and the rest of the planet to chaos.
Pakistan is an obvious exception, not exceptional in its stability but claiming its nuke capability is necessitated by the ongoing antagonism with India, another nuclear power on its doorstep. Neither Pakistan nor India have signed onto the NPT.
None of that alleviates the pressure on the militaristic Netanyahu, in his second shot at leadership and with a divided government. He is already on record as opposing the peace process and has compared Iran to Nazi Germany, an odd and hyperbolic comparison, at best.
What to do?
Israel will exercise patience, to a degree. If and when it becomes evident beyond all reasonable shadows of doubt that Iran is on the verge of joining Israel in the exclusive Nuke Club and enabling Ahmadinejad to launch even one nuclear-tipped missile at Haifa, Israel will attack Iran and totally disregard Washington’s qualms.
Netanyahu realizes the weakness and ineptitude in the Obama administration much more so than the American electorate and he understands that our Boy Leader is a visionary–read that as naive–who will fumble the ball when push comes to shove. His only alternative for survival of the Jewish nation is to act soon, unilaterally, and forcefully and the devil for the consequences.
Also, for the record, my wish is for peace, prosperity, and amicability among all the peoples of the world. Since that’s unlikely, I wish Israel would just go away and stop burdening America with its problems.
Will she or won’t she? I’m betting she does.
Contributor's website: http://www.genelalor.com/
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