Like every good conservative commentator, I believe in giving credit when it is due. To this end, I give President Obama the benefit of the doubt and credit for the difficult task of dealing with the Iranian situation. During his narcissistic interruption of the so-called “Super Tuesday,” he declared:
“We have a window through which we can resolve this issue peacefully,” the president continued. “We have put forward an international framework that is applying unprecedented pressure. The Iranians just stated that they are willing to return to the negotiating table. And we've got the opportunity, even as we maintain that pressure, to see how it plays out.”
Referring to the campaign rhetoric about Iran from Romney, Santorum and Gingrich, Obama said his worries include the men and women who would fight such a war -- a conflict that he believes right now would be a mistake. “Typically, it's not the folks who are popping off who pay the price,” he commented.
“This is not a game. There’s nothing casual about it.” The president discounted campaign discussions about Iran as “a lot of bluster and a lot of big talk,” and he said his rivals’ proposals are less about solving a serious problem than scoring political points.
“Now, the one thing that we have not done is we haven’t launched a war,” he added. “If some of these folks think that it’s time to launch a war, they should say so. And they should explain to the American people exactly why they would do that and what the consequences would be. Everything else is just talk.”
I know from my extensive reading of military and other history that there is virtually always behind-the-scenes intelligence that cannot be divulged and must be considered. This necessary inside information can even lead to decisions that confuse those without it. Such was the case many times in World War II when the highest American strategists used information gained from the Japanese diplomatic codes to make decisions across the European Theater. At times, those decisions confused and angered the military leadership on the ground who had no knowledge of the highly sensitive intelligence. (For more information, I suggest MARCHING ORDERS by historian Bruce Lee). So, there is no doubt that this type of procedure remains in use today.
Therefore, if our president states that diplomacy and negotiations are the best procedure to take with Iran, then I assume that he is operating with the best information available and is using it to make the best decisions possible. I give our president credit for that.
Time will tell.
