COMMENTARY | "Hold your horses." That's the message most of the Western powers are sending to Israel as it considers military action to eliminate a nuclear threat from Iran. So far, Israel has heeded the call for restraint -- at least overtly. On the covert side, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been a little busy of late.
A continuous delegation of high-profile U.S. defense experts have visited Israel lately, AFP reported. Those visits are the preliminary meetings before Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visits the U.S. next week. Netanyahu then is set to meet with President Barack Obama at the White House in March. There is little doubt the U.S. is sending a very strong unofficial signal to avoid a conflict with Iran while international sanctions are taking hold.
The last thing Obama wants is to be drawn into a conflict with Iran that he doesn't choose to start, which is what will happen if Israel attacks and Tehran responses. Mutual defense treaties would force the U.S. military to protect Israel from a rain of Iranian missile strikes, and the quickest way to do that is for the U.S. Navy to remove the missile launchers inside Iranian territory in advance.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague has also urged restraint. However, rhetoric aside, Britain dispatched one of its newest ships to the Persian Gulf -- just in case.
The whole Iranian debacle has created an interesting world environment. The Western powers are aching to launch a strike to eliminate the nuclear distraction. China is playing it safe by restructuring its crude purchases, Reuters UK reported. But in the end, China wants deeply reduced oil prices to continue buying from Tehran.
Israel doesn't need not worry: Iran will not be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon. The U.S. and her allies have been clear on that from the start. If Iran fires the first bullet or makes an overt threat to do so, an overwhelming military response would decimate its offensive capabilities, and the nuclear facilities too.
Rather than advance more military threats, Iran would be well-advised to find an honorable, face-saving way to exit the current diplomatic crisis before someone pushes a button to end it for them.
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