The question of an Israeli air strike on Iran was posed by Fareed Zakaria on his GPS program this past Sunday.  If you have not seen his interview show it appears on CNN at 1 p.m. EST every week.  Many of his guests are rarely seen on American television.

The topics this past Sunday included a discussion on the possibility of an Israeli air strike on Iran before the next U.S. president takes office.  The theory being that neither McCain nor Obama would take kindly to this action during their presidency without a more definitive threat.

Today’s news includes an item from the AP that the U.S. plans to sell 1,000 bunker-buster bombs to Israel.  The information reported is too sketchy to draw any conclusions about U.S. or Israeli intentions.

I found this quote on israelinsider.com, “Israel will have to reconcile itself with the nuclearization of Iran.”  Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joseph Biden, quoted by Israel Army Radio Monday Sept. 1, 2008.  Is this another signal that Israel will attack Iran before Jan. 20?  My opinion is that Israel will attack Iran if the leadership is convinced tha their nation is subject to attack.  It’s the Bush Doctrine which is the same as Israel’s Doctrine of Survival.  It’s not new there.  The first shots in the Six-Day War in 1967 were given by Israel to Egypt.  The justification was the marshalling of troops by its Arab neighbors on all borders.

Joe Biden should be prepared to take a stronger stand against Iran for the sake of the United States.  Israel would be a first step by Iran.  A nuclear Iran would be a threat to a much wider area than Israel.  Iran is already receiving help from Russia.  What must Obama and Biden be thinking?  Will this issue be discussed at the upcoming foreign affairs debate between Obama and McCain?  I hope so.

I have asked this question before.  Is the United States prepared to go to war to defend all of the NATO nations against an attack from Russia or any other nation?  Sarah Palin says “Yes”.  Does anyone who heard her responses to Charlie Gibson not think that the response was based upon the views of John McCain?      

Governor Palin is a pugnacious individual who thinks like John McCain.  In that same interview with Charlie Gibson she equated oil drilling as a part of foreign policy.  That was a repeat of comments previously made by McCain about energy independence.

The question is, do Americans want warrior types to lead this country?  I am not prepared to confront Russia on its borders in areas that it views as part of its sphere of influence. Georgia, Ukraine, Poland and other nations all border Russia.  John McCain, by his own admission, is a fighter.  He even liked fighting with others in school.  What will he do if Russia invades and occupies any of its weak neighbors?  More to the question, what will America do if McCain is president? 

What America need now is a peace maker.  We need someone who will negotiate with the most difficult adversary.  I doubt that John McCain is that person.  Barack Obama is the alternative to a warrior.  He says war is an option but that he is prepared to negotiate with everyone.  Obama is correct.

There is no doubt that both Barack Obama and John McCain are two strong willed men.  Each has a significantly different vision of where America should go in the early 21^st century.  Their decisions could impact the entire century.  After all appointments to the Supreme Court are for life.  The longest-serving chief justice of the US, Warren Earl Burger headed the court from 1969 to 1986.  Scalia was appointed to the current court September 26, 1986.  The impact of Ronald Reagan’s presidency is still affecting behavior and discussions throughout the country and he left office in 1989.

Now we have John McCain running for president.  He was born August 29, 1936.  He just turned 72 years old.  He most likely does remember WWII.  His family has a history of military service.  According to all accounts he followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, McCain graduate from the United States Naval Academy in 1958.

I thought I heard him use the word “fight” repeatedly throughout his acceptance speech.  Reviewing the text I found he used “fight”, “fights”, or “fighting” a toal of 25 times.  In addition he used the word “fought” 9 times.  Compare that with Obama’s acceptance speech. Barack Obama used the word “fight” twice and the word “fought” twice. Giving up an early release as a POW, John McCain was a fighter who stayed in the Hanoi Hilton for five years.

The reality is that being president is more than being a fighter.  The United States needs a leader with the wisdom and skills to negotiate a variety of situations.  Will John McCain be ready to “fight” every nation in the world that does not bow to the United Sates views?   Most of those situations are not related to fighting.  They are about reaching a result in good legislation that will move our nation forward.  Words matter more than fists.  Barack Obama is the skilled orator and communicator.

Is the Cold War really over? I don’t think so. It was always a mystery to me that in a matter of months after the fall of the U.S.S.R. the United States government concluded it was over. For reasons I never understood the new Russia was no longer a threat to the rest of the world. After all the same people that lived in the old U.S.S.R. are still alive and well in the new Russia. Vladimir Putin the recent past president and now prime minister of Russia was recruited into the KGB and was a member of the Communist Party from the mid 1970s until the party was dissolved in December 1991.The Russians, like the Americans, do not like a government on or near its borders that it considers a threat. A good example is the United States attempt to isolate Cuba. We consider the Caribbean to be within our sphere of influence. Now Georgia, which was part of Russia for most of the past 200 years, is thumbing its nose at Russia and Poland has signed an agreement to put a U.S. missile interceptor base in their country.

Despite our words of support it is not likely that we will go to war with Russia over Georgia. Leaving politics aside I do not believe that the United States will come to the aid of any small nation that borders Russia. I know that NATO includes many nations in Eastern Europe (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania). Is the United States prepared to defend their borders from invasion from Russia?

In 1796, George Washington warned his new nation “…Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people out to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government.” Washington said “The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible.”

John McCain’s statement, “We are all Georgians”, could be a frightening view into his state of mind. He is, after all, a military man. If he were president would he take America into battle over Georgia? I fear the answer may be yes.