Dennis Ross termed Iran's approach as a "rope-a-dope" strategy. Iran,
he said, is playing for time vis-à-vis the P5+1. He suggested that the
P5+1 countries "go for an endgame strategy." The idea, he said, is to
present Iran with a model for a civilian nuclear program, and ask – do
you accept it or not?
At some point, he explained, negotiations have got to clarify whether
Iran intends to comply with the P5+1 demands – or the P5+1 might have
to adopt a more aggressive approach.
Elliot Abrams said that Iran continues to build up not just its nuke
program but also Hizbullah and Assad's army in Syria. Russia and China
are playing a game, he said – and these two countries are also a part of
the P5+1.
As far as nuclear strategy is concerned, he said, "Iran's Ayatollah
Khamenei is doing great. We are not." It is true, he said, that the
sanctions program is damaging Iranian economy, "but the goal is to
prevent them from achieving a nuclear weapon, and if you fail to do that
you have failed."
Denniss Ross said that Binyamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama
"will try to define prevention" when they meet in April. "They want to
have a better understanding," he added, "of when does prevention as
objective fail, and force become inevitable."
Abrams said the U.S. was "tragically slow" in responding to the Syria
crisis. He noted that humanitarian aid has been transferred to the
Syrian government until now, and praised Secretary of State Jon Kerry
for saying that the aid will now go to rebels. Ross explained that the
reason for the change is that the aid has been passing through the UN,
and the UN has decided to transfer the aid to the rebels from now on.
Abrams served in foreign policy positions for two Republican U.S.
Presidents, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. He is currently a senior
fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Ross served as the Director of Policy Planning in the State
Department under President George H. W. Bush, was the special Middle
East coordinator under President Bill Clinton, and was a special adviser
for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia (which includes Iran) to
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/165825
Sunday 3 March 2013
Bibi, Obama Mulling when Force against Iran is Inevitable
Posted @ 16:05
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