Bye Bye to BiBi

I hope that in the upcoming elections the Israeli electorate will say Bye Bye to Bibi.  But I have no more right to tell Israel who to elect, than their leader has to tell us to ignore what our president believes is in the best interest of America, and to instead do, what he believes is in the best interest of Israel.

But if we are to consider his recommendations, we should look at his track record.  He heartily encouraged America to spend its treasure and sacrifice lives by invading Iraq.  The rise of Iran is a consequence of the resulting destabilization of the region.  Obama was right on this issue, Bibi, not so much.

He has a valid point that Iran is not trustworthy.  Of course, he would be better poised to make that point if he had not, according to his own intelligence agency, lied to the UN about Iran's nuclear progress.

The option Netanyahu offers to a deal is war.  He dressed it up, but his rhetoric is sheer nonsense.  We along with our bargaining partners, England, France, Germany, Russia and China, will try for the best deal possible.

But what if the US follows Bibi's advice and demands stronger terms than our allies.  The result, when the negotiations break down would not be tougher sanctions.  The reality is sanctions would disappear.  The US does not buy Iranian oil, so our unilateral sanctions are meaningless.  If the US is seen as responsible for cratering the negotiations, our partners would ignore the sanctions.

Without a deal or sanctions, Iran would be on its way to nuclear capability, and the only alternative would be war.  As we learned in Iraq, war usually has unintended and disastrous consequences.