JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour): Israel's prime minister warned again today that Iran is well on its way to creating a nuclear weapon, and said the world needs to act.
Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the United Nations. As he has often before, Netanyahu condemned Iran and its nuclear program and called on other leaders to do the same.
PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israel: You see, at stake is not merely the future of my country. At stake is the future of the world. And nothing could imperil our common future more than the arming of Iran with nuclear weapons.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The Israeli prime minister said the hour is -- quote -- "getting late" to stop Iran as it continues its nuclear work.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: I speak about it now because the Iranian nuclear calendar doesn't take time out for anyone or for anything.
I speak about it now because, when it comes to the survival of my country, it's not only my right to speak. It's my duty to speak.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The prime minister's remarks came two days after President Obama also spoke out against Iran.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: A nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained. It would threaten the elimination of Israel, the security of Gulf nations, and the stability of the global economy. And that is why he United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
JUDY WOODRUFF: But Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has long insisted that the country's nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. And during his own speech yesterday, he denounced potential military action by Israel.
PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, Iran (through translator): Testing new generations of ultra-modern weaponry and the pledge to disclose these armaments in due time is now being used as a new language of threat against nations to coerce them into accepting a new era of hegemony.
Continued threats by the uncivilized Zionists to resort to military action against our great nation, is a clear example of this bitter reality.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Earlier this week, Iran unveiled a new long-range reconnaissance drone, and the country's Revolutionary Guard said it tested new missiles as well.
Prime Minister Netanyahu noted that while international sanctions by the U.S. and other countries have hurt the Iranian economy, they didn't stop its nuclear program.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: There's only one way to peacefully prevent Iran from getting atomic bombs. And that's by placing a clear red line on Iran's nuclear weapons program.
And I believe that, faced with a clear red line, Iran will back down. And this will give more time for sanctions and diplomacy to convince Iran to dismantle its nuclear weapons program altogether.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Using a drawing of a bomb with a fuse for illustration, Netanyahu literally drew a red line at the point before Iran reaches the final level of uranium enrichment, a step he says could be reached by next spring or summer.
The United States has not gone as far, but the topic is expected to be discussed when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with the Israeli prime minister later this evening.
"Israel's Flirtation with Military Action Against Iran Puts U.S. in Tricky Spot" (Part-2) PBS Newshour 9/27/2012
Excerpt
SUMMARY: Benjamin Netanyahu's comments about drawing a 'red line' on Iran's nuclear aspirations added pressure to the U.S.'s role in mediating. Judy Woodruff talks to Georgetown University's Paul Pillar and Washington Institute for Near East Policy's Robert Satloff on whether Iran is more of a threat for Israel than others in the region.
"Netanyahu Raises With 'Red Line'; Obama Still Keeping Cards Close" by Margaret Warner, PBS Newshour 9/27/2012
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Magic Marker line -- drawn with dramatic flourish today across the throat of a cartoon gunpowder bomb -- was meant to set a "red line" for Iran, the point beyond which the Iranians cannot go in their uranium-enrichment program without triggering a certain military response.
But the Israeli leader's U.N. speech can also be seen as issuing another kind of "red line" to the United States. That is, Israel won't try to take out Iran's nuclear facilities before the presidential election here, but if Iran's uranium program proceeds at the current pace for another nine months and the United States doesn't strike, Israel will.
It's the speech Netanyahu had wanted President Obama to give -- backed up by the threat of U.S. military action. But in an hour-long phone conversation between the leaders two weeks ago, President Obama made it clear he wasn't going to do it.
He and his advisers saw too many downsides. Setting a red line would commit the U.S. to military action down the line, at a time of the adversary's choosing. What's more, said one official, "wherever you set the line, you're telling the other side they can go right up to it without any risk at all."
At the same time, the President is committed to preventing, not containing, a nuclear-armed Iran. And his advisers share the Israelis' concern that protracted negotiations can provide cover for a country to achieve nuclear weapons status right under the nose of the international community. North Korea is the classic example. "We've seen this before. It's 'wait, wait ... oops!'" said one Israeli diplomat.
None of the players -- Americans, Europeans, Israelis or Iranians -- expect anything to happen on the negotiating front before the presidential election here. Tehran is awaiting the Nov. 6 outcome, too. But soon after, expect to see the U.S. and its negotiating partners -- the four other members of the Security Council, plus Germany -- table or revive another proposal designed to test the Iranians' seriousness, backed up by tougher sanctions if Russia and China can be persuaded. Then, if that doesn't work, Netanyahu's timetable to military action may well unfold.
There are a couple of ironies here. Despite Mitt Romney's more bellicose talk about backing Israel and confronting Iran, the Israelis believe it would take longer for a President Romney to take military action than it would President Obama. Any new president wants his team to do their own review and reassessment of policy and plans, after all, before committing the U.S. to such a fateful military course.
Another irony: Netanyahu faced push-back from the Israeli public and military establishment last month when he publicly flirted with the idea of Israel taking to the skies over Iran in defiance of Washington. If the next President doesn't hew to his timetable next year, Netanyahu would have to carry out the threat he made today... or very publicly back down.
COMMENT: On the issue of Iran's nuclear program, for the U.S. (and the West), it is extremely dangerous folly to NOT take military action to stop them.
They are a nation (including their President) that have constantly espoused the destruction of the U.S. and the West, one can imagine the consequences of a nuclear armed Iran. Reminder, they are religious fanatics in their beliefs, this is NOT JUST a matter of politics.
As to Mr Pillar's comments in video (all due respect to his credentials) he is forgetting that in such a secretive government we CANNOT know for sure just what Iran is doing. We can only know what they allow 'us' to see.
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