Love of the Land: Break the linkage

Break the linkage

Carl
Israel Matzav
12 April '10

Over the past few weeks, the Obama administration has been becoming more and more shrill in its insistence that there is a connection between 'progress' on the 'Palestinian front' and Western efforts to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The Council on Foreign Relations' Ray Takeyh insists that linkage exists only in the minds of Western policymakers and not in the minds of the Arab states. Insisting on that linkage will weaken Israel and prevent it from taking action to stop Iran in the (likely) event that the United States fails to do so.

The notion that the incumbent Arab regimes are reluctant to collaborate with the United States on Iran because of the prevailing impasse in the peace process is a misreading of regional realities. The Arab states, particularly the Persian Gulf sheikdoms, have an odd policy toward Iran. In private, as any visiting American dignitary can attest, they decry Iran's ambitions, fear its accelerating nuclear program and even hint at the advisability of using military force against its atomic installations. Yet they are loath to be part of an aggressive strategy, which they would see as unduly antagonizing the Islamic Republic.

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Love of the Land: Break the linkage