X: Obama: A Looming World Tragedy 389
United Nations. “This represents the final collapse of Bush’s foreign policy.” (CBS-AP, June 26,
2008) the mood of his fellow neocon Richard Perle was equally apocalyptic: ‘“Usually the word
‘meltdown’ applies to a nuclear reactor. In this case it applies to Bush administration diplomacy
which once aimed to halt the North Korean program and has now become an abject failure,”
Richard Perle, chairman of the Pentagon defense policy board in the run-up to the 2003 Iraq
invasion, told the Telegraph.’ (Daily Telegraph, June 28, 2008)
At the same time, a pattern of intense diplomatic activity had emerged across the Middle East,
even as the Israeli politician Shaul Mofaz was threatening Iran with an inevitable nuclear attack if it
were to persevere in its alleged attempts to procure nuclear bombs. The Israelis were known to be
negotiating with Syria in a series of talks mediated by the Turkish government. The Israelis were
also making deals with Hamas and Hezbollah, something that was formally speaking a violation of
the strict Bush doctrine in this regard. Remarkably, the top levels of the US government issued
some unusual warnings to the Israelis, telling them to back off from any plan to strike at Iran:
“President Bush and the top U.S. military commander warned Israel... against bombing Iran,
suggesting the U.S. doesn’t want to get involved in a third war. “This is a very unstable part of the
world and I don’t need it to be more unstable,” Adm. Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs chairman [and
leading member of the ruling Principals’ Committee], said at a briefing. Bush said, “I have made it
clear to all parties [including Israel] that the first option is diplomacy,” in getting Iran to stop
enriching uranium that could be used for a nuclear weapon. The warnings came after the disclosure
that Israel had conducted air operations over the Mediterranean that could simulate a strike on
Iran.’^212
In addition to these public warnings, there were also reports of private messages telling the
Israelis to back off. One was delivered by Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mullen of the Principals’
Committee: ‘The US did not give the green light for an Israeli attack on Iran, Prof. Anthony H.
Cordesman, a former Pentagon official and currently the top defense analyst at the ABC TV
network, said.... Cordesman was speaking during a meeting with Israeli defense analysts held by
the Institute of National Security Studies. He said IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi
Ashkenazi was notified of the United States’ stance regarding Iran by Admiral Michael Mullen, the
top uniformed US military officer, during Mullen’s visit here at the end of June. The US has opted
at this point to stick to the diplomatic track in its efforts to keep Iran from going nuclear, and has
made clear to Israel that it shouldn’t attack Iran without White House approval, Cordesman said. He
added that the current US policy is likely to remain unchanged at least until the next US president is
sworn in. Israeli officials confirmed that Cordesman’s statements indeed reflected the current tone
of US policy.’^213
There were also indications that Iran was being offered the possibility of continuing to enrich
uranium at the level of its present capacity to do so, while opening a negotiation with Solana of the
European Union. This was welcomed by the Iran Foreign Minister Mottaki, and was widely
regarded as the prelude to a deal or modus vivendi between the US under Brzezinski and the
Iranians: “Iran agreed ...to enter into talks with the European Union about its nuclear program
before the end of the month, Iranian state-run media said. The EU, which recently placed sanctions
on Iran, has offered a package of political, economic and security incentives to Iran if it halts
uranium enrichment. Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, called EU foreign policy chief
Javier Solana to tell him the response to that offer was coming, according to Iran’s Islamic Republic
News Agency, and Solana’s office characterized Jalili’s tone as friendly and positive. The EU has
proposed suspending further sanctions if Iran takes a six-week break from installing or
manufacturing any more centrifuges that enrich uranium. Iran would be allowed to continue to run