by Carl in Jerusalem
Friday, February 24, 2012
On the Hill, Alexander Bolton writes that a potential Israeli strike on Iran has become one of the biggest threats to President Obama's reelection bid (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).
The Obama administration and economic experts have warned a pre-emptive attack by Israel could send the economy into a slump, which would change the trajectory of campaigns for the White House and Congress.Read the whole thing.
Economic and energy experts say an attack could cause an oil shock, which sent the United States into recession in the late 1970s. In the early '90s, a similar shock occurred when the OPEC oil embargo and the Iraq invasion of Kuwait sent prices soaring.
“If Iran is to retaliate against Israel or other U.S. targets, it’s really unpredictable. It’s safe to say there would be a big shock to oil prices,” said Adam Hersh, an economist at the Center for American Progress.
“The oil price shock and domestic politics in the United States are my biggest concerns for disrupting the economic recovery we’ve been seeing,” he said.
...
Obama’s poll numbers have gone up with the economy, the chief concern of voters heading into the November election, and any news that would change that trajectory is unwanted at the White House.
Sorry American friends, but even under the best of circumstances, Israel cannot be expected to take the fall for the US economy, and certainly not for Obama's reelection, when its survival is at stake. Once you factor in the fact that Obama is a major cause of this situation by his (in)actions over the last three years, it's a no-brainer that an Israeli decision maker who is charged with protecting Israel should ignore the cost of oil in deciding what to do. That's reality.
