How could the United States let this happen? Delusion? Ignorance? Innocence? Likely a combination of all three, according to what Dr. Michael Doran, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute think tank, told the Presidents Conference. And therein lies the next contradiction: A world superpower entrapped by what Doran called “fantasy.”
“[President Obama] doesn’t understand Iran the way we do,” said Doran. “The president represents a trend in the U.S. national security elite that sees Iran as a natural ally of the U.S. This is a strongly held secret opinion. They don’t like to advertise it because it is unpopular politically.”
He said Obama has convinced himself that in the end, Iran and the U.S. have the same interest in defeating Islamic State and that Iran doesn’t really want to destroy Israel.
“That is what Iran tells the U.S. behind closed doors…. I don’t believe it for a second,” said Doran.
In the meantime, according to Segall, the U.S. lost its place in the game in August 2013 when Obama’s “chemical red lines were crossed” by failing to push through military action against Syria following Assad’s use of chemical weapons. Russia has moved in to fill the American void.
“We all know the end result,” he said.
Netanyahu, for his part, told the Presidents Conference, “We live in an era where there are two parallel but contradictory trends regarding the State of Israel.”
On the one hand, Israel faces ongoing diplomatic hostility from longtime friends, including from the European Union and its member countries. On the other hand, non-traditional partners like India, China, Japan, Russia, and African and Latin American nations are warming up to Israel, which Netanyahu attributed in large part to “concern with the spread of militant Islam, which has become a global plague, and the terrorism that it produces,” said Netanyahu.
“Countries want…to benefit from Israel’s experience, our intelligence. I mean military intelligence, special service intelligence, operational experience. They want to partake of that experience to help defend themselves.”
JNS