I'm not going to re-state the arguments--presented very effectively in some recent Kos diaries among other places--as to why an Israeli attack on Iran would be a disaster for all parties concerned. I just want to make two points that may not be widely recognized, and to urge the Kos commuiity to take what little action is available to us to support President Obama in resisting Netanyahu's bellicose demands.
First: we have to recognize that Netanyahu is in a very strong bargaining position viz. Obama, because he enjoys a reliable 5th column in the US Congress. He can be sure that in any demands he makes on Obama--and I mean any--he will have solid majority support in Congress. He can count on practically all the Republicans and a good many Democrats. I'm quite sure this is an unprecedented situation in American history: never has a foreign leader been able to count on a significant portion--much less a majority--of US Congress members to be ready and wiling to undermine their president in his dealings with a foreign power.
Second, we can take it for granted that Netanyahu would vastly prefer a Republican victory in this year's presidential election. Not just because Bibi's ideological affinities are naturally with the radical rightists who now dominate the Republican Party. More critically: what little resistance Obama has offered to Likud's plans for the West Bank would vanish if he were replaced in the White House by a Republican. So, whatever other reasons Bibi may have for wanting to attack Iran, he has an additional incentive to do what he can to create a crisis that might imperil what now looks like a probable Obama re-election. Which makes it all the more important that we do whatever we can to stiffen Obama's resistance to Netanyahu's war cries.
So, I'm urging all Kos followers to join me in contacting our Democratic members of Congress (the Republicans are mostly hopeless) with a message something like the following:
Dear___: In anticipation of the upcoming Obama-Netanyahu meeting, I urge you to speak out and do whatever you can to mobilize support among your fellow members of Congress to back up President Obama in resisting Netanyahu's plans for war. Polls show that neither Israelis nor Americans want war, but in the past, the U.S. Congress has undermined the President in his dealings with the Israeli leader. The situation now is too critical to allow AIPAC to call the shots in Congress.
We should also contact the White House with similar sentiments.