Zbigniew Brzezinski says that in the event Israel decides to strike at Iran's nuke sites, not only should the US refuse Israeli jets the right to fly over Iraqi airspace, but should shoot them down if they do not comply.
DB: How aggressive can Obama be in insisting to the Israelis that a military strike might be in America’s worst interest?Brzezinski: We are not exactly impotent little babies. They have to fly over our airspace in Iraq. Are we just going to sit there and watch?
DB: What if they fly over anyway?
Brzezinski: Well, we have to be serious about denying them that right. That means a denial where you aren’t just saying it. If they fly over, you go up and confront them. They have the choice of turning back or not. No one wishes for this but it could be a Liberty in reverse. (Link.)
The Liberty, of course, being the USS Liberty.
Does anyone think the US would really shoot down Israeli jets that were on a mission to destroy Iran's nuclear capability? Really? I seriously doubt it. Obama is already widely seen as soft on countries he should be tough with (and tough on countries he should go easy on); if he gave an order to blast away at an ally's planes, he would be in diplomatic Armageddon.
And nobody outside the blogosphere seems likely to hear about this, since not a single MSM outlet has thus far picked it up.
Posted by: steve Newton at September 21, 2009 03:03 PM> Does anyone think the US would really shoot down Israeli jets that were on a mission to destroy Iran's nuclear capability?
Yes, I do. He would brand this as "state-sponsored terrorism." This would permit Obama to promote himself as being "tough on terrorism" against a country that will never threaten U.S. interests.
Not to mention that he would ingratiate himself with the Arab countries and with the European "shitty little countries" at the same time. He is much more concerned with their public opinion than he is with American Jews.
> Obama is already widely seen as soft on countries he should be tough with (and tough on countries he should go easy on)
Why do you expect him to be different if Israel engages in such a strike?
Carter and Zbig are both suffering from senility, it's a shame that they are suffering in public.
Posted by: anonni at September 24, 2009 09:33 AM