The Campaign Spot, back in June:
I wonder if Fareed Zakaria still thinks his cover piece in Newsweek, on how “Everything you know about Iran is wrong, or at least more complicated than you think,” is accurate.
In an interview last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the Iranian regime as “a messianic, apocalyptic cult.” In fact, Iran has tended to behave in a shrewd, calculating manner, advancing its interests when possible, retreating when necessary.
Does the management of the election, and the reaction to the protests, seem shrewd and calculating to you?
Fareed Zakaria’s latest cover piece assures us that the Obama administration is handling Iran properly. His piece is entitled, “After Iran Gets the Bomb . . . The World Won’t End.”
Zakaria:
The country does not yet have even one nuclear weapon, and if and when it gets one — something that is far from certain — the world will not end. The Middle East has been home to nuclear weapons for decades. If Israel’s estimated arsenal of 200 warheads, including a “second-strike capacity,” has not prompted Egypt to develop its own nukes, it’s not clear that one Iranian bomb would do so.
You know, if Israel’s leader talked about green auras and world leaders not blinking in his presence, and if they chanted “death to,” well, anybody every Friday, and if they talked about wiping other countries off the map, and if their regime used children to clear minefields, I’d be worried about them, too.