Miracle of Miracles -- Arab States, like Israel, Fear an Obama "Engagement" with A-jad's Iran

UPDATING 5-(7&10&11)-2009 LINK REPLACED 12-2-2010

Anti-Zionism is the anti-imperialism of fools

The half-brights and all-dumbs and smart ignoramuses in the Obama Administration have run into a likely unforeseen obstacle to their obsessive dream of helping the Iranian ayatollahs obtain the Bomb. The six Arab sheikdoms of the Persian Gulf have

. . . concerns [about this policy that] . . . sound strikingly like those coming from the mouths of Israeli officials.
[AP, Salah Nasrawi, 6 May 2009 updated link as of 12-2-2010]

Like Israel, they fear the prospect of a fanatic Iran armed with nuclear weapons. Once upon a time the US claimed to fear nuclear proliferation. A treaty against nuclear proliferation [NPT] was duly drawn up and signed by most states, including Iran, which is now violating it. However, after years of European negotiations with A-jad's government over stopping nuclear weapons development, with new deadlines repeatedly offered when Iran did not comply with previous deadlines, the new wet-behind-the-ears administration of Barack Obama declares that it opposes the military option against the nuclear weapons development of Iran.

Obama and his crowd --divided into young wackos and scary, white starched shirt old and middle-aged white men-- claim that they know of some magical diplomatic means to stop Iran's nuclear development. They forget --or pretend not to know-- that the threat of force is also a tool of diplomacy and that "tough diplomacy" [an Obama term?] needs the threat or potential of military force to back it up, and not just tough, angry words. Or maybe the "engagement" policy is not meant at all to lead to peace but to cause more chaos in the Middle East. Anyhow, the six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council [the GCC: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates] plus Egypt seem to think that any deal ensuing from the "engagement" process might endanger them and their interests.

US allies in Mideast cautious over Iran overtures -- Salah Nasrawi, [AP 6 May 2009 updated link as 12-2-2010]

Washington's efforts to start a dialogue with Iran have sent ripples of alarm through the capitals of America's closest Arab allies, who accuse Tehran of playing a destabilizing role in the Middle East.

The concerns being raised by Arab leaders sound strikingly like those coming from the mouths of Israeli officials.
"We hope that any dialogue between countries will not come at our expense," said a statement Tuesday by the six oil-rich nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council, who have long relied on U.S. protection in the region.

The Obama administration has been reaching out to Iran in a marked shift after shunning contacts for decades. But U.S. allies such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as Israel, say Tehran is not a positive force in the region with its support for Islamic militant groups such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit conveyed the concerns this week when U.S. envoy Dennis Ross, who is dealing with Iran, visited Cairo.
"Iran's behavior in the region is negative in many aspects and does not help in advancing security, stability and peace," he [Aboul-Gheit] told Ross.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was in Saudi Arabia and Egypt this week, has sought to reassure the Arab allies that any contacts with Iran would be "open and transparent" and regional allies would be kept informed "so nobody gets surprised."
. . . . .

Israel and the U.S. suspect Iran's program to enrich uranium is aimed at developing nuclear weapons — a concern shared by the GCC.

"There exists a strategic and military threat (to Gulf countries) and we are against any nuclear program that isn't approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency because we believe that the Iranian nuclear program should not destabilize the region," the organization said in its statement.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's son, an increasingly influential figure in the regime, said Tuesday that Egypt and Iran also do not always see eye to eye.

"Both Egypt and Iran are key countries in the region, but we have our differences regarding the future of the region and peace," said Gamal Mubarak. Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation, has long seen Iran as a regional rival.

Egypt has become increasingly vocal over its concerns about Iran, especially following its discovery in April of what it described as a "Hezbollah cell" plotting to destabilize the country. The Iranian-backed Lebanese group has denied the accusations, while admitting it did have an operative in Egypt supervising weapons shipments to the Palestinian Hamas group.

In a rare confluence of interests with its Arab neighbors, Israel has also singled out Iran as the greatest threat to stability in the region.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet with President Barack Obama later this month and is expected to push for a tough U.S. stance on Iran. Israel argues that progress in peace with the Palestinians can't happen unless Iran is reined in.

The London-based Palestinian daily, Al-Quds Al-Arabi even said the Arab moderates governments are actively working on building an alliance with Israel to counter Iranian influence in the region.
[full article - AP, 6 May 2009 updated link as of 12-2010]

Adding to its credibility is that this report comes from the Associated Press, signed by Salah Nasrawi, who bears an Arab name. Despite what Hilary [Obama's secretary of state] as well as one of Obama's Jewish flunkeys, Rahm ["Kapo"] Emanuel said, to the effect that if Israel did not come to terms with the "palestinians," Israel would not get support against Iran from Arab states, it seems that the Arabs are not listening. It seems that they too fear Iran first of all more than they worry about "progress . . . in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians."

Last month, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Israel that it risks losing Arab support for combating threats from Iran if it rejects peace negotiations with the Palestinians. [Jerusalem Post, 5-4 & 5-5-2009]

Apparently, Hilary and Rahm Kapo were just making empty threats to Israel, since the Arab states in question seem to be much closer to Israel's position --on this issue-- than to the American or, perhaps, the Anglo-American position of appeasing the ayatollahs of Iran.
- - - - - - -
UPDATING 5-(7&10)-2009 Jennifer Rubin at the Contentions blog also noticed this story. See her comment and 25 reader comments.
Caroline Glick on Arab rejection of linkage between Arab-Israeli issues and the Iranian nuclear weapons development.
Yoram Ettinger on linkage between the Iranian bomb project and Arab-Israeli negotiations.
David Hazony on linkage here, particularly on "national security advisor" Jones.
LINK ADDED 12-2-2010: I have replaced the original link to this story. I found it at first on the Yahoo site whence it has unfortunately vanished. The link now shown here is to HaArets which left out the reporter's name, Salah Nasrawi.