While Obama Fiddles

By Richard N. Weltz

What they say is one thing; what they do is another. Despite overly saccharine protestations of undying support for Israel, Barack Obama and his henchman, Joe Biden, play out a very different game.

When all is said and done, this administration is fiddling while Iran burns up the track in its race to develop nuclear arms that will be an existential threat to Israel and provide the Islamic Republic with the power to assume hegemony over the entire Middle East -- and perhaps beyond.

Obama dithers and delays, sets ever farther out new "deadlines," asks for reliance on "harsh sanctions," which are a sick joke in their lack of reality, and refuses to greenlight or assist Israel in any way that could effectively stop or significantly delay achievement of Iran's nuclear capabilities.

There will be no stopping Iran short of brute force, and Obama is refusing to sell Israel the block-busting bombs weapons it needs if it is to have any chance of significantly damaging Iran's underground nuclear facilities with conventional armaments. Nor is there any evidence that Obama would be prepared to offer any level of support -- moral or otherwise, if Israel finds it necessary to proceed alone to keep the concept of "Never Again" alive.

It may be that truly severe sanctions could persuade the maniac mullahs to back off; but any such are simply not possible without the cooperation of Russia and China, who refuse to play, and of the European nations who'd rather pussyfoot than do anything meaningful.

So, once again, we see the usual leftist choice of hollow words, delay, and appeasement. This time, though, it is not Mr. Chamberlain's -- or Mr. Obama's country which is at stake, but a distant land whose occupants will be hard pressed to defend themselves against the annihilation attempts of a powerful madman.

There is no doubt whatsoever that American policy now proposes to accept a nuclear-armed Iran and is trying to lull Israel and other Middle East nations into that acceptance with vague promises of defense under some sort of ill-defined missile umbrella.

Israel may or may not be able to go it alone this time to defend itself -- and other nations under the Iranian threat -- but Obama is leaving it no choice. Understandably, survival must be Israel's paramount goal; and nobody, including the Muslim-friendly Obama, is doing anything more than leading them into the path of destruction.