The President's Iran Policy is Outdated Now

The most striking aspect of President Obama's reluctance to publicly support the citizen rebellion in Iran is that he keeps making noises about how "it isn't too late" for the mullahs to begin peaceful negotiations with "the international community."

This guy wants to negotiate so badly that he can't see the reality that is before him.

President Obama wanted to use his deft diplomatic skills -- his view, not mine -- to get Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program in exchange for the Israelis to settle (again) with the Palestinians.

That isn't likely to happen now. If uprising fails, it will be a long time before any other is attempted, the hardliners have their hand strengthened, and anyone who tries to "do a deal" with them must ignore the fact that the regime has blood on its hands.

If the uprising succeeds, there is no regime to negotiate with anyway.

Meanwhile, Israel is taking no comfort in Mr. Obama's foot-dragging. He's coming across as vacillating, undecided. Dare we say, weak? He couldn't even bring himself to dis-invite the Iranian diplomats to 4th of July parties, a teensy-weensie sign of solidarity with the freedom marchers that would have sent a clear message.

If the president thinks the Israelis are going to embrace the threat of nuclear Armageddon as the stick with which to grab the peace carrot with the Palestinians, he's more naive than Jimmy Carter, and that's saying a lot.

We noticed stress in President Obama's voice several times in his Tuesday press conference. He's getting a bit testy with members of the press who dare to ask real questions not cleared in advance with staff. If he thinks the press is beginning to wake up from its mesmerized love affair, and this is how he responds, I'm afraid we are in for a great deal of relational angst in the coming months.

Having a real foreign policy beyond merely thinking he can jawbone the rest of the world like he jawbones the American media would be a first start in developing a spine.