Issues Under Fire: Does Israel Really Wanna Go It Alone?

Benjamin Netanyahu gave a big shout-out to his minions in the US Congress before beginning his address to thousands of AIPAC's "Israel first and America-the-useful second" enthusiasts. Referencing Congress' shameful display of overt toadyism during his speech to a joint session in 2011, he urged AIPAC attendees to show their appreciation for the US' K-9 level of loyalty. 


Appearing on stage with a couple of goons from Thugs-R-Us he went on to state the predictable Israel must control its own destiny dribble, only with a more puffed up tough guy angle. Still, even with all the “As Prime Minister of Israel, I will never let my people live under the shadow of annihilation”. And the “We’ve waited for diplomacy to work,” “We’ve waited for sanctions to work. None of us can afford to wait much longer.” stuff, somehow we're not convinced the Israelis really want a piece of the Iranians without full US support. 


All this crazy talk of Israel going it alone with the Middle East boiling like a caldron of sweet crude is the madness of a good movie plot, but not reality based foreign policy in logic. The notion of Israel being able to significantly impact Iran's nuclear efforts (whatever they may be) unilaterally is at best a Right Wing wet dream. 


The Israelis have been talking a lot of smack, but after seeing the IDF's lackluster performances against Hamas and Hezbollah its hard to conceive of them handling sustained attacks against their global interest in retaliation.


If one's considers the worldwide resentment Israel will face for exacerbating the international economic crisis, this alone should be the game stopper. No, we think all this bluster is to activate the next level of psychological warfare by raising the ante of this dangerous game of chicken. Israel handling this "impossible mission" and the inevitable global blowback without drawing America in is simply not reasonable or rational. To continue to intimate Israel will act without consulting with or sharing logistics of an impending strike without providing prior notification is ludicrous. To expect the world to go along with this shamozzle while the Iranians are still making overtures of cooperation is insane.