A very astute and interesting observation from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about what is going on in the Middle East. It’s not the only explanation of events in the region, but Iran is enjoying the fact that attention is diverted from their nuclear program. This comes from a television interview she did recently on Saudi television.
Interviewer: “But now, Madam Secretary, there is a very strong warning of war looming in the whole area, which is going to be pulling in Hamas, Hizbullah, the Iranians, Israel, and all kinds of factions from all over the region. And this time, they are not talking about skirmishes. They are talking about a large-scale war with many more casualties. How seriously should we take this warning?”
Hillary Clinton: “I’m aware of the drum beats, and I think that those, unfortunately, are being created for very cynical purposes. Let’s just be very blunt here, because I like to be as clear as I can. I think that there is very little doubt that Iran does not want to see any kind of negotiated peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. For its own purposes, it wants to keep its attention of what the big concern for the future, which is a nuclear-armed Iran, with weapons that threaten its neighbors and beyond. So if they can shift attention away from their own internal decisions about whether or not to pursue and produce nuclear weapons, they will be very happy about that. And we cannot let that attention get diverted, and we cannot let any outside influence case a conflict in the Middle East, which would be disastrous for everyone.” […]