I am Benjamin Natanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, and I have promises to keep. I will never permit any other nation in the Middle East to acquire nuclear weapons or even to enrich uranium on an ongoing basis. Israel cannot survive except as the sole nuclear power in the region. Only nuclear weapons can deter attacks from the Muslim populations surrounding our tiny nation. Iran has crossed the red line, and must be brought low, and soon. This is not negotiable.
I am Prince Bandar of the House of Saud, and I have promises to keep. As a true believer and defender of the faith, I cannot permit the depredations of the infidels, idol worshipers and heathens who call themselves Shiites to spread. Iran is intent on spreading the influence of this false religion throughout the Middle East, and is challenging the standing trade alliances of more civilized nations both with the West and with one another. Iran must be brought low, and soon. This is not negotiable.
I am Al Khameinei, Supreme Leader of the Iranian people, and I have promises to keep. We are beset on every side by the Western powers and their allies in the Middle East, living under harsh economic sanctions, yet still striving for peace and normal relations with all nations. Nonetheless, we will answer any attack on our territory immediately with every means at hand, including closing the Persian Gulf to all oil shipping. This shall be the price of attacking Iran, and we will not hesitate to levy it, humbling all the Western economies as they have humbled ours. This is not negotiable.
I am Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria, and I have promises to keep. If attacked by any outside aggressor, I guarantee the immediate use of every means at hand to defend my nation and government and to punish the aggressors. Nothing is off the table, not even chemical weapons. Everything will be used. This is not negotiable.
I am Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, and I have promises to keep. The Americans continue their push to dominate the Middle East, and clear the way to do the same in the Caspian Basin. If Russia allows our only allies in the Middle East to fall to American domination, we will have Americans fomenting rebellion in the small muslim nations south of Russia proper, seeking to take our oil and natural gas for themselves. No, Syria and Iran are where we will stop the Americans, by diplomacy, by economic and political support, and by providing these nations with weapons that will make American and Israeli attacks too costly to pursue. We will never let our proxy states in the Middle East stumble, to fall to American or Israeli domination, or to become failed states like Iraq. This is not negotiable.
I am Barack Hussein Obama, President of the United States, and I have promises to keep. America depends on a steady supply of oil from the Middle East, now and into the future. We have the strength to dominate the region, and to move further north into the Caspian Basin in time. Our allies in the Middle East all fear the growing power of Iran in the region. And Iran is trading its oil directly with China, avoiding the use of the dollar, which is a direct threat to American petrodollar hegemony. Israel has let me know they will attack Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities this month, with or without US help. I choose to begin the war in Syria in order to force regime change there. I will attack Syria this month. Syria and Iran will attack Israel in response, giving Israel cover to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities as self-defense. Israel is not going to wait beyond October 1st, so neither am I. I will bomb Syria this month no matter what Congress says, to provide cover for Israel’s attack on Iran. This is not negotiable.
“We see, therefore, that War is not merely a political act, but also a real political instrument, a continuation of political commerce, a carrying out of the same by other means. All beyond this which is strictly peculiar to War relates merely to the peculiar nature of the means which it uses. That the tendencies and views of policy shall not be incompatible with these means, the Art of War in general and the Commander in each particular case may demand, and this claim is truly not a trifling one. But however powerfully this may react on political views in particular cases, still it must always be regarded as only a modification of them; for the political view is the object, War is the means, and the means must always include the object in our conception.”
~ Carl von Clausewitz