On Dennis Miller’s radio show on Monday, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer said that because of American weakness in the Middle East, “the chances of an Israeli strike on Iran have risen, are probably double.”
Krauthammer, author of “Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes, and Politics,” called the United States’ position in the region “the weakest” in memory and blamed that on President Barack Obama.
“We’re the weakest we’ve been in the region in memory,” he said. “The big deal in the region was 1970, when Egypt kicked out the Soviets and aligned itself with the United States. That was the greatest coup — I mean ‘coup’ in the metaphorical sense. Kissinger pulled that off. We were dominant in the region for 40 years. And Obama comes in and decides we’re going to be nice to our enemies, Iran.”
“Remember he sent an ambassador to Syria. He sent [John] Kerry and [Nancy] Pelosi to wine and dine with [Bashar ] Assad in Damascus,” he continued. “He did the reset with Russia. He had the open hand. He goes to Cairo and he says, ‘We’ve been very mean and very disrespectful of the Arab world. We are a country that went to war five times to rescue Muslims but disregard that. So we’re going to be extra nice to you and be very respectful.’ And what does he get? He sort of, he disrespects our allies — the British, the Israelis, the Czechs, the Poles, the Gulf Arabs, everybody — and he tries to appreciate our enemies, and he ends up, everybody has contempt for him.”
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But it also sends a message to one of key allies in the region in Israel, he argued. According to Krauthammer, it tells Israel the United States won’t act to thwart Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
“Iran just continues its nuclear program,” Krauthammer said. “Russia thwarts him at every step. Syria is brazen even in using chemical weapons. Everybody is upset with him. Our enemies are no closer and our standing among our friends there is just appalled. The guy says there is a red line, does nothing. Then he says again there’s a red line, sends out Kerry and says I’m off to play golf, go to Russia. So they are worried that they have anybody to rely on and what I think is the result of all of this — the chances of an Israeli strike on Iran have risen, are probably double. The Israelis know there is no hope of any help from outside. They’re going to have to go it alone, if they go it at all.”