White House mentality toward Iran pre-emptive strike: nuisance, not threat

In what may be a reflection of just how out of touch the Obama administration is on the issue of foreign affairs, Middle East expert and Congressional advisor Walid Phares told Newsmax that, “It seems to me the Obama administration is not convinced that the Iranians are really a threat. It is convinced that they are a nuisance, and a deal eventually after those sanctions would work. That’s the view of this administration.”

Phares’ observation comes at a time when the deputy head of Iran’s armed forces, Mohammad Hejazi has declared that, “Our strategy now is that, if we feel our enemies want to endanger Iran's national interests, and want to decide to do that, we will act without waiting for their actions."

Israel is being closely watched and there is some speculation that Israel may decide to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities in the spring.  Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu warned Obama last month that if Israel feels it must defend itself, it may opt to do so without notifying Washington.

Phares admits that Iran’s nuclear ambitions are “not stoppable,” but also pointed out that a bi-partisan Senate resolution is a warning signal of the urgency surrounding the need to confront Iran before they develop effective nuclear weapons. The language of the Senate resolution and details about who supported it can be found here.

Meanwhile, in what has become yet another case in point regarding the Iranian government’s human rights abuses and intolerance toward religious freedom, the ACLJ reports that Iran has issued execution orders for Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani. His crime is that he became a Christian.  It’s also being noted that the number of executions in Iran is steadily increasing.