Al Arabiya Editor in Chief: Obama should listen to Netanyahu. What is controversial is Obama's take on managing global conflicts. Netanyahu is correct that Middle Eastern countries are collapsing and being taken over by terror groups mostly backed by Iran

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3/3/15, "President Obama, listen to Netanyahu on Iran," Al Arabiya, Faisal J. Abbas, Editor-in-Chief

"It is extremely rare for any reasonable person to ever agree with anything Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says or does.

However, one must admit, Bibi did get it right, at least when it came to dealing with Iran.

The Israeli PM managed to hit the nail right on the head when he said that Middle Eastern countries are collapsing and that “terror organizations, mostly backed by Iran, are filling in the vacuum” during a recent ceremony held in Tel Aviv to thank outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz for his role during “challenging” times.

In just a few words, Mr. Netanyahu managed to accurately summarize a clear and present danger, not just to Israel (which obviously is his concern), but to other U.S. allies in the region.

What is absurd, however, is that despite this being perhaps the only thing that brings together Arabs and Israelis (as it threatens them all), the only stakeholder that seems not to realize the danger of the situation is President Obama, who is now infamous for being the latest pen-pal of the Supreme Leader of the World’s biggest terrorist regime: Ayottallah Ali Khamenei. (Although, the latter never seems to write back!)

Threat bigger than nuclear ambitions

Just to be clear, nobody disagrees that ridding Iran of its nuclear ambitions is paramount. And if this can be achieved peacefully, then it would be even better. However, any reasonable man CAN’T possibly turn a blind eye to the other realities on the ground.

Indeed, it is Mr. Obama’s controversial take on managing global conflicts that raises serious questions. A case in point is his handling of the Syrian crisis, where according to his own philosophical views, Obama probably takes pride that he managed to rid the Assad regime of its chemical weapons arsenal without firing a single bullet.

Of course, in theory, this could be quite an achievement (which only another war philosopher, such as Sun Tzu, would applaud); but in reality, the problem with what happened is that the REAL issue hasn’t been resolved; as such, the Syrian regime continues – until this day – to slaughter their own people (albeit, using conventional weapons, you know… your everyday bullets, missiles and barrel bombs!)

As such, the real Iranian threat is not JUST the regime’s nuclear ambitions, but its expansionist approach and state-sponsored terrorism activities which are still ongoing. What is noteworthy, is that whilst in the past Tehran plotted and implemented most of its terror activities in secret (apart from a few obvious examples such as the 1983 Beirut attack on U.S. Marines); the Islamic Republic seems so at ease today that, as noted by renowned media columnist Diana Moukalled recently, it went public with documenting the appearances of Iranian General Qassim Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force.

In her latest column, Moukalled wrote the days of the few, amateur shots of the infamous Commander are long gone.

“Since a few months, photos of Qassim Soleimani have become plentiful and available in High Definition.”

“Soleimani is no longer that secretive personality whose role over the past two decades has lingered been between myth and reality. He is now telling us bluntly: Yes, I am Iran’s strongman who is responsible for the Iranian military's expansion in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Palestine,” she wrote.

Among his many handlings, Soleimani is the godfather of Iraq’s infamous “Asaa’ib Ahl Al-Haq” (AAS) brigade, a Shiite paramilitary terrorist group responsible for dozens of atrocious attacks and murdering of both Iraqis and Americans.

Iran supports al-Qaeda

Not only is Iran responsible for sponsoring Shiite terrorist groups, but Sunni ones too.

In fact, according to the U.S.’s own State Department, Tehran was home to a number of Al-Qaeda facilitators and high ranking financiers. These accusations are also backed by findings of the U.S. Treasury Department as well.

Now, some would argue that it would be biased and/or naive to leave out Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, out of the equation and blame most of the regions problems on the mischievous Iranian regime.

On the contrary, it would be biased and/or naïve NOT to blame Iran for such problems. After all, yes there are terrorists in Saudi Arabia and there are people who financed terrorism, but these are officially outlaws, who are either in jail, being hunted down or are hiding in the caves of Tora Bora or some other remote area.

The same, sadly, doesn’t apply to the terrorists of Iran; these are in uniform, hold government positions and are not bothering to hide their evil plots anymore!"
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"Faisal J. Abbas is the Editor-in-Chief of Al Arabiya English, he is a renowned blogger and an award-winning journalist. Faisal covered the Middle East extensively working for Future Television of Lebanon and both Al-Hayat and Asharq Al-Awsat pan-Arab dailies. He blogs for The Huffington Post since 2008, and is a recipient of many media awards and a member of the British Society of Authors, National Union of Journalists, the John Adams Society as well as an associate member of the Cambridge Union Society."


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