Traffic Unbearable

And now! ... Princess Neoterica of Outer Pajamastán will introduce [1] this morning’s principal orator:

Robert Kagan on the new Obama Middle East strategy: “[B]y insisting that the Israeli government not only put a freeze on new settlements but also halt ‘natural growth’ in existing settlements, the administration has set up an unavoidable and possibly unpleasant confrontation with Israel, precisely at the moment it is importuning a truculent Iran. This sets up quite an image: Unclench the fist at a government that daily calls us the Great Satan, while balling up a fist at a longtime ally.” Is is almost incomprehensible, no?

(( Thunderous applause and brachial salutations from the Right ))

The Obama administration is either very courageous or very foolish -- possibly both. I had assumed that in a year in which the administration intended to take a soft approach to Iran, seeking talks, holding out inducements and never discussing penalties, bending over backwards to make accommodations, that it would not simultaneously pursue a confrontational policy with Israel. Such a policy would seem to be more than the political traffic at home could bear. I was wrong. Instead, by insisting that the Israeli government not only put a freeze on new settlements but also halt “natural growth” in existing settlements, the administration has set up an unavoidable and possibly unpleasant confrontation with Israel, precisely at the moment it is importuning a truculent Iran. This sets up quite an image: unclench the fist at a government that daily calls us the Great Satan, while balling up a fist at a longtime ally. There must be a brilliant strategy in here somewhere. But from the outside, it isn’t obvious where the confrontation with Israel is supposed to lead. While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can conceivably put a freeze on new settlements, it is unlikely that he can stop “natural growth” of existing settlements and still hold his government together. Indeed, it is questionable whether any Israeli government could. Perhaps the Obama administration is trying to bring the Netanyahu government down. Regime change! Clearly, this is an effort to shape Arab opinion and show that the Obama administration is more even-handed than its predecessor. But if Israel can’t or won’t deliver, what does the Obama administration do next? If it backs away from its demand, then it proves itself impotent in the face of Israeli intransigence, thus presumably weakening its standing with the Arabs. But if it doesn’t back down, what forms of punishment does it intend to carry out to force Israel’s hand? Will the administration place sanctions on Israel at a time when it is offering to lift sanctions on Iran?

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[1] There have been some shady doin's up the slippery slope at

Castle Podhóretz, Mr. Bones! For reasons inscrutable, Her Neocomradely and Imperial Highness has decided to withdraw Neocomrade R. Kagan's flot or jet from the public gaze.

Imagine me aghast when I went back to get the URL and found that the gem itself had been stolen!