In a recent interview, Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski shows some of the wisdom that helped make the Carter administration such a smashing success. He pronounces that if Israel decides to take out Iran’s nuclear weapons program, the United States should shoot down their planes:
Q: How aggressive can Obama be in insisting to the Israelis that a military strike might be in America’s worst interest?
Brzezinski: We are not exactly impotent little babies. They have to fly over our airspace in Iraq. Are we just going to sit there and watch?
Q: What if they fly over anyway?
B: Well, we have to be serious about denying them that right. That means a denial where you aren’t just saying it. If they fly over, you go up and confront them. They have the choice of turning back or not. No one wishes for this but it could be a Liberty in reverse.
ASIDE: Brzezinski refers to the USS Liberty incident during the 1967 Six-day War in which Israeli jets attacked a US Navy ship, causing major damage and 34 deaths. The ensuing investigation found that the incident was a tragic mistake, and Israel paid millions in restitution. Nevertheless, some (apparently including Brzezinski) believe that Israel attacked the ship deliberately.
Fortunately, I can’t see the president giving such an order. Not only would such an attack be catastrophic to US-Israel relations (already severely damaged by the president), it would make President Obama a hostage to fortune. Anything that Iran would do with its nuclear weapons would be Obama’s inescapable, personal responsibility.
POSTSCRIPT: As horrifying as it may be, Brzezinski’s proposal is moderate compared to that of Obama foreign-policy adviser Samantha Power, who has called for the US to invade Israel and impose a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.
(Via the Weekly Standard.)
