Posted on 11/18/2009 6:50:07 AM PST by Tigen
The US is too bogged down in Afghanistan to engage Iran militarily over its nuclear program, an ex-CIA South Asia expert and current adviser to US President Barack Obama said in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
Bruce Riedel, a senior Brookings Institute and Saban Center fellow for political transitions in the Middle East and South Asia, addressed scholars and journalists at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies.
He warned that the US was fighting a losing battle against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, and that Washington would soon have to make difficult choices on beefing up troop levels there.
"Israelis need to understand that there's going to be a huge drain on resources, attention and capital, and that will have implications," Riedel told The Jerusalem Post before his talk.
He acknowledged that those implications would primarily affect the Iran question.
During his address, Riedel referred to the US's commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and said, "We've got two wars. You've got to be bold to say, let's start a war against a third party, particularly when the third party can hit you in the first two fronts."
The US has learned that it "can't fight two medium-sized wars simultaneously," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at jpost.com ...
“The US is too bogged down in Afghanistan to engage Iran militarily over its nuclear program...”
...so we are hoping the Isrealis will get wiped off the planet, like that little nutjob Achtung-mini-me-jihad keeps saying he wants to do...
No, we are facing reality.
The reality is that Iran is a huge country, and the US has no strategic interest in starting a full-blown Middle East War (which is probably what will happen if Israel attacks Iran) right now.
But if Israel wants to attack Iran, it can go right ahead, and deal with the consequences by itself.
Message to Israel - we are not going to do anything... it's up to you to stop Iran, if you are interested. Get ready for Osirak III?
Wonder if the news will make it into the US widespread media and whether anyone on Capitol Hill would call for hearings on the Obama's apparent "shift in policy" of dropping the "stick"?
Bruce Riedel sounds like a sniveling defeatest. I’m troubled that he’s an advisor to 0bama.
To suggest that going after the ROOT CAUSE of much of the hostile action in Iraq and Afghanistan is somehow an impediment to winning in Iraq and Afghanistan...is duplicitous, at best.
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