Netanyahu’s Necessary Crankiness

We can afford to be overly optimistic about Iran, but Israel can’t.

by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online 

So far, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani’s peace ruse is still bearing some fruit. Photo Credit:  Downing Street via FlickrPresident Obama was eager to talk with him at the United Nations — only to be reportedly rebuffed, until Obama managed to phone him for the first conversation between heads of state of the two countries since the Iranian storming of the U.S. embassy in 1979.

Rouhani has certainly wowed Western elites with his mellifluous voice, quiet demeanor, and denials of wanting a bomb. The media, who ignore the circumstances of Rouhani’s three-decade trajectory to power, gush that he is suddenly a “moderate” and “Western-educated.” Continue reading “Netanyahu’s Necessary Crankiness”

‘Game Changers’

by Victor Davis Hanson // Tribune Media Services 

When — not if — is the only mystery about an Iranian nuclear bomb.

All the warning signs are there.513px-Crocodile_warning_sign_02.svg

‘Game changers’

In 2008, presidential candidate Barack Obama on two occasions went out of his way to warn the Iranians that the development of a nuclear weapon “would be a game-changing situation, not just in the Middle East, but around the world.” Obama later added, “It is unacceptable for Iran to possess a nuclear weapon; it would be a game changer.”

Strong language. And Obama twice this year again used “game changer” in reference to Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, warning him not to dare use chemical weapons. In March, Obama announced to Assad that “the use of chemical weapons is a game changer.” A month later, Obama again warned Assad not to resort to WMD use: “That is going to be a game changer.” Continue reading “‘Game Changers’”

Goodbye Syria, On to Iran!

by Victor Davis Hanson // PJ Media 

To paraphrase T.S. Eliot, this is the way Syria ends: Not with a bang, but a whimper. We are back where we started — lots of people dying — as the crisis recedes with a high five and a sigh, rather than with America blowing some stuff up. Continue reading “Goodbye Syria, On to Iran!”

President Rouhani and Peace Studies

by Victor Davis Hanson // NRO’s The Corner 

There is a long history of foreign authoritarians channeling left-wing talking points when they appeal to an American audience, apparently on the theory that they score points against the American establishment. Continue reading “President Rouhani and Peace Studies”