Netanyahu Uses Football to Explain His Concerns with Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a smart man. He knew his interview on NBC's Meet the Press was going to air on Sunday morning, and Sunday is football day. So what's a world leader concerned with a nuclear Iran going to do to explain his concerns to Americans? Use a football analogy, of course. "They're in the red zone. They're in the last 20 yards, and you can't let them cross that goal line. You can't let them score a touchdown because that would have unbelievable consequences, grievous consequences for the peace and security of us all, the whole world really," Netanyahu said. He's been pressuring international leaders to impose a "red line" on Iran's nuclear program. "Once the Iranians understand that there's a line that they cannot cross, they're not likely to cross it," he said. "Iran has been placed with some clear red lines on a few matters, and they've avoided crossing them." David Gregory kept trying to get him to pick between Obama and Romney, but Netanyahu resisted. "You're trying to get me into the American election and I'm not going to do that," he said.
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U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice appeared on Fox News Sunday to confirm that everything is okay between Netanyahu and Obama. There was a minor kerfuffle this week when it appeared the President was avoiding meeting with Netanyahu in New York at the end of the month. Not the case, says Rise. "Their schedules don't match. There is no opportunity for them to meet in New York," she said. "The prime minister hasn't asked for a meeting." Netanyahu and Obama are still totally BFF after their phone call patched things up. "We are very close partners and friends and always will be," Rice said. When host Chris Wallace asked her why, if everything in friendship land is peachy keen, did the President feel the need to call Netanyahu the other night, Rice gave him a good lesson on friendship."Well, Chris, because they are friends and when friends need to say something to each other they pick up the phone and talk. And they talked for an hour. It was a good conversation, and it's in the nature of our relationship that these two partners speak to each other regularly," Rice said. "We have no daylight between us on the issue of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon."
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Libya President Mohamed Yousef El-Magariaf went on CBS's Face the Nation to give an update on his country's ongoing investigation of what he called the pre-planned attack on the U.S. embassy that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. "The way these perpetrators acted and moved -- I think we, and they're choosing the specific date for this so-called demonstration, I think we have no, this leaves us with no doubt that this was pre-planned, determined," Magariaf said. Bob Scieffer asked if he thinks the attack was planned by Al Queda. "It was planned, definitely. It was planned by foreigners, by people who entered the country a few months ago. And they were planning this criminal act since their arrival," he said. "They entered Libya from different directions. Some of them definitely from Mali and Algeria," he said. Magariaf claimed Libyan police have already arrested 50 people in connection with the attacks, but advised the FBI stay out of his country and let their police force investigate. "Maybe it is better for them to stay for a little while, for a little while. But until we, we do what we have to do ourselves," he said. "Any hasty action I think is not welcome." Magariaf also assured viewers that, hopefully, Libya's relationship with the U.S. won't be strained by this. "These ugly deeds, criminal deeds were directed against the late Ambassador Chris Stevens and his colleagues do not resemble any way, in any sense, the aspirations, the feelings of Libyans towards the United States and its citizens," he said.
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Nancy Pelosi thinks the moment the election changed was when Romney picked Paul Ryan as his VP and that the Democrats have a real chance to take back the house, she revealed on CNN's State of the Union. "We have been saying there are three important issues in this campaign. And in alphabetical order, they are Medicare, Medicare, Medicare. On August 11th, when Governor Romney chose Ryan, that was the pivotal day," she said. "That is the day things really changed... We were on a path. I would have said to you then we were dead even. Well, the momentum is very much with us, the Medicare issue in this campaign," Pelosi said. "We have the message, We have the messengers. We have the money. We have the mobilization. We have a very excellent chance to take back the House."
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said the protests at American embassies around the world weren't caused by an offensive YouTube video, but by the country's "disengagement policy," during his appearance on Fox News Sunday. "The countries of the Middle East believe that there is a disengagement policy by the United States and that lack of leadership there -- or at least clarity on what our position is - is causing problems," Rogers said. "If we all decide to rally around the video as the problem, we are going to make a serious mistake. And we are going to make I think diplomatic mistakes as we move forward if we think that’s the only reason people are showing up at our embassy and trying to conduct acts of violence." Host David Gregory asked rogers if he thought there was adequate security at the embassy on the day of the attack, but Rogers resisted answering. "That one is going to be hard to assess." he said. "I think we need to walk to that conclusion and not run."
Apparently Rogers had breakfast with John McCain, because the Arizona Senator said the same thing on Face the Nation. "Prior to 9/11, we had a policy of containment. Then after 9/11, it was a confrontation with the terrorists and Al Qaeda. Now it's disengagement," he said. "We're leaving Iraq. We're leaving Afghanistan. We're leaving the area. The people in the area are having to adjust and they believe the United States is weak, and they are taking appropriate action." He also said the video shouldn't be blamed for the protests. "Let's point out this wasn't a video that caused this. It's a fight, a struggle in the Arab world between the Islamists and the forces of moderation. And they want America disengaged," McCain said. He also thinks there are more videos like Muslim Innocence coming. "And by the way, I predict to you there will be many, many videos that will be out there. It was the Islamists, radical Islamists, advertising and pushing this objectionable, hateful video to incite the forces that would then bring about their assumption of power. That's what this is all about."
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani thinks everyone should be nicer to Mitt Romney, and lay off from accusing him of being too vague with his policies and platforms. Giuliani made his plea for everyone to stop bullying Romney on State of the Union. "These are a bunch of Republicans who are running scared because the polls are—Romney’s not ahead by ten points or 15 points, which of course would be totally unrealistic. I think he’s running a perfectly fine campaign. This is the level of specificity that American candidates usually give in a campaign," Giuliani said. "My goodness, President Obama wasn’t terribly specific four years ago when he told us, he ran on hope and change. Hope and change: what a strategy that’s been for the Middle East." Giuliani does think Romney will be super specific about his "red line" for Iran, though. Or, at least, he might be. "I believe that Mitt Romney would set a red line. He’d make it clear..." Giuliani said. Candy Crowley asked why he hasn't set a line already. "He might. Over the course of these debates, he might very well do it," the former mayor said. "Although then you’d all criticize him for engaging and interfering in foreign policy. I mean Mitt Romney can’t win, no matter what he does."
George Will shot down the GOP line that Mitt Romney would have prevented the attack on the Libyan embassy somehow on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopolous. Will was asked if thought the line was true, that Romney would have prevented an attack, but he said no. "The great superstition of American politics concerns presidential power, and during a presidential year that reaches an apogee -- and it becomes national narcissism," Will said. "Everything that happens anywhere in the world, we cause, or we could cure with ... presidential rhetoric." Will also doesn't believe the video was the cause of all the violence, though. "If the video hadn't been the pretext, another one would've been found," he said.
Also, here's a video from Media Matters of Romney advisor Liz Cheney saying the President should have never abandoned dedicated U.S. ally Czechoslovakia on This Week. Czechoslovakia hasn't existed for almost 20 years.
