BIG BRObama Tries To Shoot Israeli Attack Plans In The Foot

[Ausonius]

From Time via DrudgeReport:

A joint U.S.- Israeli military exercise seen as a practice for a possible Israeli attack against Iraq has been severely truncated: e.g. from 5,000 U.S. troops to 1,500.

Salient excerpts:

U.S. commanders privately revealed the scaling back to their Israeli counterparts more than two months ago.  The official explanation was budget restrictions.  But the American retreat coincided with growing tensions between the Obama and Netanyahu administrations on Israel’s persistent threats to launch an airstrike on Iran.

In the current political context, the U.S. logic is transparent, says Israeli analyst Efraim Inbar. “I think they don’t want to insinuate that they are preparing something together with the Israelis against Iran – that’s the message,” says Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. “Trust? We don’t trust them. They don’t trust us. All these liberal notions! Even a liberal president like Obama knows better.”

And:

Inside Israel, reports persist that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense chief Ehud Barak are determined to launch a strike, and American officials continue to urge restraint.  Israeli analysts say Netanyahu wants Obama to send a letter committing to U.S. military action by a specific date if Iran has not acceded to concessions, but the U.S. administration does not appear to be complying.

(My emphases above)

Note that in typical political fashion the current resident of the White House can still say he is committed to supporting Israel, rather than explicitly supporting Iran.  Whether one thinks that attacking Iran to stop the nuclear-bomb program is a good idea or not, one must be dismayed at the politicization of a military decision.  Because the exercise was scheduled for October, one can easily see that the regime did not want to upset its pacifist and its anti-Israel bases.

See: http://world.time.com/2012/08/31/exclusive-u-s-scales-back-military-exercise-with-israel-affecting-potential-iran-strike/#ixzz25ESiK9Sl

[Ausonius]

Follow up to the consequences of the U.S. not really supporting an Israeli pre-emption of Iranian nuclear-bomb programs:

For all practical purposes this weekend ended the Israeli debate on attacking Iran. What tipped the scales were two developments. The first was the decision of the country's president, Shimon Peres, to make his opposition to a military strike public. The second was an interview given by a former key defense advisor of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, questioning for the first time publically whether his former superior and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are fit to lead Israel in time of war.

Using every possible media outlet on the occasion of his 89th birthday, President Peres made clear last Thursday that "going it alone" -- attacking Iran without a clear understanding with the United States -- would be catastrophic.

(My emphasis.)

See:

http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/08/20/the_israeli_debate_on_attacking_iran_is_over

And so, if this analysis is correct, Iran will continue to build its nuclear bomb with impunity.