One Neoconservative to Obama: Bomb Iran and Save Your Presidency

I hear that President Obama will be interviewed by Katie Couric of CBS during the pre-game show of the Super Bowl this coming Sunday. He's been going all over the place in the U.S. since the Massachusetts special election, trying to cast a new image of a aggressive, combative commander in chief who is not afraid to be unpopular to do the right thing. (Or something like that.)

And this neo-conservative writer is egging on Obama to embark on a sure-winner to further boost his image and popularity among Americans and America's allies: Bomb Iran.

Bomb Iran, and the American people would rally around you, he says.

How to Save the Obama Presidency: Bomb Iran
(Daniel Pipes, 2/2/2010 National Review)

"I do not customarily offer advice to a president whose election I opposed, whose goals I fear, and whose policies I work against. But here is an idea for Barack Obama to salvage his tottering administration by taking a step that protects the United States and its allies."

"...... He needs a dramatic gesture to change the public perception of him as a light-weight, bumbling ideologue, preferably in an arena where the stakes are high, where he can take charge, and where he can trump expectations.

"Such an opportunity does exist: Obama can give orders for the U.S. military to destroy Iran’s nuclear-weapon capacity."

After citing the poll numbers seemingly suggesting the American public would support attacking Iran (but remember, poll questions are crafted to elicit the desired answers...), he continues:

"Not only does a strong majority — 57, 52, 58, 61, and 61 percent in these five polls — already favor using force, but after a strike Americans will presumably rally around the flag, sending that number much higher."

So he is suggesting Obama bomb Iran to boost his poll numbers.

"Just as 9/11 caused voters to forget George W. Bush’s meandering early months, a strike on Iranian facilities would dispatch Obama’s feckless first year down the memory hole and transform the domestic political scene. It would sideline health care, prompt Republicans to work with Democrats, and make the netroots squeal, independents reconsider, and conservatives swoon."

In other words, everyone in the U.S. would flock to Obama with starry eyes, if only Obama bombs Iran, a country that has never attacked the U.S. and which has never posed a threat to the U.S.. For what? Obama presidency makeover? And he is not suggesting a makeover in substance but image and perception.

Much like ads for branded goods.

The most recent buildup in the Middle East does indicate something may be up. Since Obama seems to be on a rampage beating up on nation's top banks, Supreme Court judges, Americans who oppose his policies (half the country), GOP, Reuters, Toyota, Ken Lewis, it's about time he ventures outside the border for a fresh target.

To be sure, if John McCain had been elected as president, he would have bombed Iran long time ago, as he merrily sang. (Sort of.)

Here's what one weary observer says about Obama and Iran:

Will Obama Play the War Card? (Pat Buchanan, 2/5/2010 Lewrockwell.com)

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