Aunty War

[Celandine]

Report: Israel, US Discuss Excuses for Attacking Iran
Israeli Hawks 'Furious' at Panetta for Comments on War
by Jason Ditz,
December 28, 2011

Where There's Smoke...?

US warns Iran not to disrupt oil route

[Celandine]

Will Bibi Have Barack Over a Barrel (of Oil)?

Not only is that because the vaunted Israel lobby – whose premier organization, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), will be holding its star-studded annual convention here beginning Sunday – has been working overtime to hype the "existential" threat posed by Tehran’s nuclear program to the Jewish state’s survival.

Nor is it related only to the fact that three of the four Republican presidential candidates are repeatedly accusing Obama of being "soft" on Iran and insufficiently committed to Israel’s security, thus seeking to drive a wedge between the president and Jewish voters and donors.

The extra boost on this visit is provided by growing concerns over the convergence of steadily rising oil prices – and jitters in the oil market over mounting tensions between Israel and Iran – with the November elections here.

"The biggest hurdle to President Obama’s reelection is almost surely going to be the inevitable rise in gas prices over the summer," wrote Daniel Dicker, an oil trader who writes a column for financial website, The Street, this week.

"And no matter how hard he – or anybody else – argues that higher pump prices are largely beyond his control, you and I know that the American public won’t much care for explanations."

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Obama pressed to get tough on Iran over nuclear program
Israel’s advocates mount campaign ahead of meeting

WASHINGTON - On the eve of a crucial visit to the White House by the prime minister of Israel, that nation’s most powerful US advocates are mounting an extraordinary public campaign to pressure President Obama into hardening US policy toward Iran because of its nuclear program.

From the corridors of Congress to a gathering of nearly 14,000 US Jews and other supporters of Israel this weekend, Obama is being buffeted by demands that the United States be more aggressive toward Iran and more forthright in supporting Israel in its own confrontation with the country.

While defenders of Israel rally annually at a meeting of the pro-Israel lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC, this year’s event has been supercharged by a convergence of election-year politics, a deepening nuclear showdown, and the often-tense relationship between the president and the Israeli prime minister.

Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak to the group, known as AIPAC, as will the three leading Republican presidential candidates, who will appear via satellite from the campaign trail on the morning of Super Tuesday. Republicans have seized on Iran’s nuclear ambitions to accuse Obama of being weak in backing a staunch ally and in confronting a bitter foe.

The pressure from Congress is also mounting. A group of influential senators, fresh from a meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem, has called on Obama to lay down sharper criteria, known as “red lines,’’ about when to act against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

‘It’s not just about the Jewish vote and 2012.’
Senator Lindsey Graham South Carolina Republican

“We’re saying to the administration, ‘You’ve got a problem; let’s fix it, let’s get back on message,’ ’’ said Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, who was in the meeting with Netanyahu and said the Israeli leader vented frustration at what he viewed as mixed messages from Washington.

“It’s not just about the Jewish vote and 2012,’’ he said. “It’s about reassuring people who want to avoid war that the United States will do what’s necessary.’’

To give teeth to the deterrent threat against Iran, Israel and its backers want Obama to stop urging restraint on Israel and to be more explicit about the circumstances under which the US itself would carry out a strike.

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