Obama ‘Won’t Hesitate to Use Force’ Against Iran

Warns Against Talking About War, Says Threats Helping Iran

President Obama delivered a major foreign policy speech today before the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference in Washington DC, centering on his unquestioning commitment to Israel, his determination to ensure that Israel has military supremacy over any conceivable opponent, and insisting that he “will not hesitate to use force” against Iran.

To that end Obama further insisted that sanctions had brought the entire Iranian economy to a grinding halt in 2011, and that 2012 would be even worse for it. He also took credit for the European Union’s embargo on Iranian oil, saying it came at his administration’s behest. His greatest achievement, at least in his mind, was pretending to be interested in negotiating with Iran so that when it failed he could use that failure as proof of Iran’s refusal to negotiate.

Interestingly enough, particularly when the speech repeatedly made reference to his possible decision to attack Iran in the near future, Obama warned the public against “loose talk” of a war, saying that discussion of the potential attack was benefiting Iran “by driving up the price of oil, which they depend on to fund their nuclear program.”

Not only did President Obama make several pointed comments about attacking Iran in that particular speech in which he warned about doing so, the president had repeatedly done so over the past few days, including insisting on Friday that he was “not bluffing” in his constant threats.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.