Obama will not attack Iran

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney noted in his speech at the Republican convention in Tampa last Thursday that centrifuges in Iran have continued to spin throughout Barack Obama's term in office. Romney and the Republicans have loudly declared that they will not accept a nuclear Iran.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Sunday at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania that Romney was ready to go to war in Iran (and also, God forbid, in Syria). In Biden's view, of course, this is another reason not to vote for Romney. Obama and the Democrats may not want a nuclear weapon in the hands of the ayatollahs but they are not ready to conduct military action against Iran at this time.

The economy, job creation, and health care are not the only issues being debated in the presidential race. The Iranian nuclear matter has also become a point of conflict between the Democrats and the Republicans. The media has joined this debate. The New Yorker this week pointed to those in Israel who oppose a strike. In his blog on the Washington Times, John Bolton explained why Israel should attack, saying salvation would not come from the current U.S. administration. "Chatter" about Iran has become an infectious disease.

But the big question is what will happen after election day on Nov. 6. It is not clear what Romney would do, or if he will even win the election. It is easier, however, to predict how Obama would act.

According to a New York Times report, Obama is preparing red lines for Iran, to "calm" Israel and allow it to back down from its threats to strike. It is unfortunate that Obama is looking for ways to "calm" Israel, when it is the prospect of a nuclear Iran that should be stressing the Americans.

Obama has interests and priorities that are somewhat different from those of the Israeli government. Tehran noticed this a while back.

Obama could have very easily solved this whole matter long ago. Instead of drawing red lines, he could have given the Iranians an ultimatum date, even after Nov. 6, which would have reassured Israel, showed toughness to the Iranians, and demonstrated to American voters the determination expected of the leader of the world's top power.

But Obama has not done this, not because he couldn't, but because he simply didn't want to. It is possible to criticize Obama for many things, but his integrity is beyond reproach. The ideologue president does not believe in military action, not now and not tomorrow.

How unfortunate would it be if Obama, who in April 2009 in Prague revealed his vision of a world free of nuclear weapons, was to become the American president under whose watch Iran became a nuclear power-

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