April 23, 2012 | Quote
Israel Can’t Afford the Happy Talk
Reuel Marc Gerecht posits that real success is almost certainly unattainable and would require that Iran “(1) Stop all uranium enrichment to 20 percent purity, which is near bomb-grade; (2) ship abroad the entire stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium; (3) close the Fordow enrichment facility, which is buried under a mountain near the clerical city of Qom; (4) allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency immediate and unfettered access to any suspected nuclear site; and (5) permit the IAEA to install devices on centrifuges for monitoring uranium-enrichment levels. [Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei is, to say the least, unlikely to agree to this.” But even the failure to obtain what the administration has previously deemed essential isn’t likely to “provoke the White House to do anything more bellicose.” Because, in the skeptics’ eyes, Obama’s aim, not unlike the mullahs, is to avoid confrontation and hinder unilateral action by the Israelis.