brzezinski says u.s. should restrain israel

Brzezinski Says Bush Should Dissuade
Israel From Attack on Iran
Ken Fireman, Bloomberg, Jun 13, 2008

Former White House National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski said President George W. Bush should privately dissuade Israel from carrying out any military strike against Iran in an attempt to cripple its nuclear program. In an interview on Bloomberg Television’s Political Capital with Al Hunt, Brzezinski said an armed conflict between Israel and Iran would widen to include the US as Iran struck back against American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Concerns about the possibility of Israel attacking Iran were raised last week by comments from a senior Israeli official. Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, a contender for prime minister, told the Yediot Ahronot daily that sanctions haven’t worked and Israel would have to attack if Iran doesn’t abandon the nuclear effort. Brzezinski said,

The Iranians cannot effectively retaliate against Israel, so they’ll retaliate against us. And then we will be tempted to retaliate against Iran, and we’ll be drawn into a very destructive conflict from which we will not extricate ourselves for many years to come.

Brzezinski said the most effective strategy for dealing with Iran’s nuclear program would be a combination of stiffer economic sanctions and positive incentives to negotiate. He said threats of military action are “counterproductive” because they unite the Iranian population in opposition to the US. Brzezinski said Bush has leverage to discourage an Israeli strike because Israeli warplanes would have to fly through airspace controlled by the US in order to attack Iran, and the US could deny permission to do so. He said,

We have to make a judgment. Is this in our interest or isn’t it? We’re going to be blamed for it. If we’re going to be blamed for it, then we have to really decide whether we want this to happen.