Bibi Netanyahu Wants You to Know He's Miffed

                Uncle Sam’s good friend Ben—you know Benjamin Netanyahu?  Israel’s Prime Minister?

Well, he stopped by the other day via NBC and CNN. He seemed troubled. Frustrated.  A tad angry.  He can’t seem to get our President to man up and lay down the law to the leaders of Iran the way he prefers.

  Ben wants Barack to tell Ali and Mahmoud—Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei and its President Ahmadinejad—that the United States will smack them hard if they make “one [atomic] bomb’s worth of medium-enriched uranium” --meaning enough explosive material to make an A-bomb. Ben calls that drawing a “red line” that Iran must not cross.

Now Ben—we call him Ben, which is more dignified and less baby-like than his nickname, “Bibi”—has been saying this and saying this. He seems convinced that Mahmoud and his team aren’t kidding when they say they will rub Israel off the map. Ben thinks they will actually try it, if they can produce the bomb.  He fears the Iranians will give their equally fanatical and irresponsible allies bombs, causing a threat that will upend the world. At worst, Iran and friends could blackmail and dominate their neighbors. At least they would start another vast Cold War.

Of course, an A-bomb could go a long way toward devastating Israel.  Americas know that better than most. With a couple of A-bombs, America melted and practically erased two Japanese cities a few decades ago.

But in effect, Barack keeps saying cool it, Ben. We’re not going to let Iran get the bomb. We promise. Trust us. We’re working with you. We’re twisting Iran’s arm. Look, Iran’s in pain. Let’s see if its leaders give in and give up pursuing the bomb.

So Ben pops up on our national TV to explain to us why Barack’s wrong. And though he denies it, Ben may want his friend and former Boston Consulting Group colleague Mitt Romney to use the “red line” argument during his campaign for the presidency.

At any rate, Ben has inserted himself into our presidential campaign. He’s a smooth talker. He’s convincing when he describes the dangers of allowing the Iranian “fanatics” to get the bomb. However, he’s unlikely to sway Barack or those in the United States who have considered the stakes in this dangerous confrontation with Ali and his boys.

For one thing, Barak must know Americans are tired of war. And who wouldn’t like to see the money spent on fighting used instead to improve our economy?

 Why not wait and see if increased sanctions against Iran combined with sabotage, subversion, and cyber- attacks finally persuade Ali to settle for having A-power without having the A-bomb.

True, Ben may be right about Iran’s intentions. For political and religious reasons that are hard for us to understand, Iran probably won’t relent.

Yet we can afford to wait until we’re absolutely sure that’s so. After all, despite the pleas of other nations to wait and see, we hurried to brutalize Iraq because it supposedly was poised to use weapons of mass destruction. The world knows how that turned out.

If Israel attacks Iran, as Ben seems itching to do, Uncle Sam will be dragged into the fray. And we will suffer.  There will be casualties.  There will be attacks and firefights at U.S. bases in Bahrain, Qatar, and Afghanistan. Hamas and Hezbollah fighters will take to the streets to attack U.S. government and commercial interests. This Iran promises.  Plus the flow of oil from the Mideast will be impeded. Gasoline prices in the U.S. will soar and again we will be saddled with the debilitating costs of war.

The picture is bleak enough to make one ask, “Why not let Iran have the bomb?” Iran could not be dumb enough to use it. An atom attack on Israel would invite a quick and terrible response that would cripple Iran for generations.  Because if Israel didn’t respond with the A-bomb it is thought to own, the United States would counter with its hellish weapons.

Then too, since the end of the Cold War, the balance of terror has kept the A-bomb toting nations of the world—the U.S., United Kingdom, France,  China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and North Korea—from  seriously threatening their use. India and Pakistan, you’ll recall, are fierce enemies and occasional combatants.

In his TV interview, Ben declared that people who say it might be okay to let Iran have the bomb are “stupid.”

That’s the wrong word. They’re smart to try and think of ways to avoid further bloodshed.

                                                                                                        ----Gus Gribbin