The world press should know better than to listen to Joe Biden about anything. And yet on This Week with George Stephanopolus, Biden seemed to give the Israelis a pass if they wanted to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities.
Reuters reports:
In his interview with ABC television, Biden said: "Israel can determine for itself -- it's a sovereign nation -- what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else."
"We cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do when they make a determination, if they make a determination, that they're existentially threatened," he said.
This left the State Department scrambling to clarify:
"I certainly would not want to give a green light to any kind of military action," Kelly said, repeating Biden's point that Washington considered Israel a "sovereign country" with a right to make its own military decisions.
"We're not going to dictate its actions," Kelly added.
"We're also committed to Israel's security. And we share Israel's deep concerns about Iran's nuclear program," the spokesman said.
He also refuted any idea that President Barack Obama's administration would drop its policy to engage diplomatically with Iran.
"I wouldn't read into it any more than what you see, then, as I said, that we respect Israel's sovereignty," Kelly said when asked if Biden's comments indicated the administration is reconsidering its policy toward Iran.
Iran will certainly see any attack from Israel as an attack by the US so one is perplexed when reading that our State Department acknowledges Israel's right to defend itself while also insisting that we will continue our outreach with Iran.
This is especially interesting since the best route to Iran for Israeli jets is over Iraqi airspace. Given Obama's competing interests, it is impossible for him to maintain both scenarios. Either he prevents Israel from protecting itself by refusing overflight permission or he gives up on his Iran policy.
Another Keystone Kops moment...
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