Mitt Abroad
Following his Olympic gaffe in London, Romney is off to Israel, where he assured Prime Minister Netanyahu that if he wants to bomb Iran, it’s just fine with Mitt. The Republican presidential nominee is, of course, fishing for Jewish votes here in the United States, where supporting anything Israel does tends to go over well.
As president, Obama has to steer a more careful course. There are enormous risks in provoking another Islamic country at a time of upheaval in the Arab world, not to mention one as powerful and unpredictable as Iran. Signaling that a Romney presidency would take us back to the recklessness of the Bush era (see Iran, Afghanistan, invasions of) is not exactly the kind of international diplomacy I’d like to see from a man who might well be the head of state in a few months. One hopes that Israel remembers that being goaded by the United States into doing our dirty work didn’t work out so well for it last time (see Lebanon, invasion of). Then again, Netanyahu has never been the most creative or patient of Israeli leaders.
Together, maybe they can lead us to Armageddon. The Christian Right here would love nothing more. Might not be so good for the rest of us, though.
