Friday, March 2, 2012

Obama to try to persuade Netanyahu

When Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the capitol on Monday, President Obama will be there to try to persuade him into stalling his plans for a military attack on Iran. In an interview, the President said that the U.S. "'has Israel's back" and should economic sanctions fail to persuade Iran into stopping it's nuclear weapons program, then he himself will order the U.S. military to destroy Iranian nuclear facilities.

President Obama has made it clear to both Iran and Israel that the threat of American military action should be taken seriously. He also said that a nuclear armed Iran would be a "'profound'" threat to the national security of the U.S. Should Iran get nuclear weapons, then it would start a domino effect in the Middle-East, with many more countries in the hunt to develop their own weapons to counter Iran's. Even though the President had a pro-Israel stance during the interview, he warned Israel of a premature strike on Iran that could portray the country as a victim at a time when it's only ally in the region, Syria, is currently experiencing a civil war. Another point he will try to convince Netanyahu on is that a better solution would be to convince Iran that nuclear weapons aren't in it's best interest.
What do you guys think? Is military action, an option that could strengthen support of the Iranian government within it's own country, a better option than economic sanctions and diplomatic persuasion which has so far not seemed to slow down Iran's nuclear program?

2 comments:

Carlos Cardenas said...

Military support from the U.S would definitely benefit Israel but might also cause the issue to escalate. Although Iranian nuclear facilities pose a dangerous threat to national security, threatening Iran may provoke serious violence. Netanyahu needs to take the consequences of attacking Iran into consideration, and instead, focus on persuading Iran to stop its nuclear activity (with the help of the U.S of course).

Katherine La Serna said...

Both presidents are looking at the solution that benefits them the most and none seem to want to cooperate with the other if there is much to lose. Netanyahu makes a good point that the Obama’s sanctions focused approach has not been very effective, much less produce results. It’s true that the Obama’s sanctions are hurting the Iran economy, although, it has not helped stopped Iran’s nuclear program.

The US should focus on cooperating more with the Israeli because they can become stronger as one. Also, the diplomatic option is not yet used up and could still help stand down Iran’s suspected nuclear weapon program.

The US will suffer if Israel strikes Iran prematurely. Military action should be the last alternative because military action against Iran could have bad consequences for the US. In addition, military action would be ineffective and can provoke a violent response. People need to remember that there is a high cost to war. War impacts civilians’ lives, the national security, and the economy.