Obama acknowledges Israel's right of defense on Iran

I'm not sure that this is about Israel's right to defend itself but more a case of their right to make an unprovoked attack on another country. Going by the GWB doctrine Iran would be well within their rights to make a pre-emptive strike on Israel.

The way I see this going is the hawks in Israel will keep beating the (unfounded as yet) drums of fear that Iran is going to have a nuclear weapon by next Wednesday etc, attack Iran's facilities and when Iran retaliates - as they surely will - go running to America and ask them to fight the war for, or at best, with them. America will get dragged into a third Middle East war but this time not of their own making.

Going by the GWB doctrine Iran would be well within their rights to make a pre-emptive strike on Israel.

Exactly, it seems Israel is the only one that ever has the right to defend itself.

Strange that Obama would say these things when it own intelligence agencies say that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons.

Another thing that is quite "strange" is that in the above pictures, it is very difficult/impossible to see the border between Israel and Palestine. I wonder why...

“I’m absolutely sure that there are a host of things that I could have done that would have been more deft and, you know, would have created better optics. But ultimately, this is a really hard problem,” Obama said.

No it isn't. Just stop ALL aid to Israel until they move back to the 1967 border. Then they can start to negotiate.

Why only Israel has right to defend?

Considering Iran has been supplying missiles and cash to directly fire into Israel I'd have to say that some people here have a loose understanding of the word "unprovoked."

Both Iran and Israel hate each other, but how can the rest of the world not be dragged into this "BLACK HOLE" called the Middle East??

Iran and warnings it could get most of the way to a nuclear bomb within months—a shorter timeline...

They have been warning us about that for years, decades now. Within months, within months. I always heard about "Iran" "nuclear bomb" and within months" We can probably find old archives on internet about warnings in the '90s.

Same warnings about Iraq being able to deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes. Typical US-AIPAC propaganda.

Tokyobakayaro,

Indeed, as early as the late 1970s, US receives intelligence (I wonder from whom...) that they had “set up a clandestine nuclear weapons development program.”

In 1984, West German intelligence sources said that Iran’s nuclear bomb production was in its final stages.

In 1992, Netanyahu said that Iran was 3-5 years from being able to produce a nuclear weapon – and that the threat had to be “uprooted by an international front headed by the US.”

^ Source plz

Whatever exaggerations there may be in Israel's account of the situation, and whatever you may think of Israel's actions/reactions in regard to its neighbors, and whoever you may want to blame more for a very messy Palestine and Iran issue, it is absurd to dismiss some very real threats Israel faces. Remember that Iran's president has stated more often than one can count that Israel should be wiped off the map. That is not a statement that should be poo-pooed.

I think Israel has behaved disgracefully in many cases, but it is wrong to view it simply as a hapless victim in all this crap.

"Washington would enter talks to renew a multi-billion dollar aid military aid package for Israel"

The U.S. doesn't have billions of dollars to give to Israel... wait a minute, the U.S. has billions of dollars to give to Egypt, so it MUST have billions of dollars to give to Israel, lol.

tokyobakayaro: Same warnings about Iraq being able to deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes. Typical US-AIPAC propaganda.

Then remove the US from the situation and look at everything every other country has said, including the IAEA, if that makes you feel better. The concern about Iran's nuclear capabilities is coming from a wife range of sources so criticizing just one doesn't make much of a case.

but it is wrong to view it simply as a hapless victim in all this crap.

I meant to say it is wrong to view Iran as a hapless victim. Sorry.