Notice how this talk continues to get harsher and harsher...
Obama Ready to Strike Iran, Former Aide saysObama ready to strike Iran, says former aidThe White House would use force to stop Iran acquiring nukes, says president’s former adviser.President Barack Obama is prepared to use military force to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons, the president’s former special assistant on Iran has said.
According to Dennis Ross, Obama is very clear that he regards a nuclear-armed Iran as a threat to international security. "The Iranians should never think that there’s a reluctance to use the force,” Ross said in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek.
Ross served two years on Obama's National Security Council and one year with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The comments came a day after Obama’s defense officials said that if Iran developed a nuclear weapon it would cross a red line, precipitating a US strike.
“They need to know that if they take that step, they’re going to get stopped,” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told CBS News’s “Face the Nation” program on Sunday.
Until now, it has been assumed that while Obama was willing to try any amount of economic pressure to stop Iran from building a nuke, he would under no circuмstances use military force to prevent it, reported Israel Today.
The president has been trying to impose harsh sanctions on Iran, in the hope that they would discourage the nation from pursuing a nuclear weapon.
But the comments leaking out of the White House in the past couple of days hint at an alternate strategy, one that is prepared to use force if sanctions don’t work.
However, other commentators dismissed the latest announcements as an election ploy designed to make Obama seem tough in the face of an increasingly belligerent Iran.
In a blog for the New York Daily News, Abby W. Schachter called the White House “utterly incoherent” on the matter.