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Among the declarations of the Statement:
"We have an abiding commitment to the survival and security of Israel, so the potential threat to Israel of an Iranian nuclear bomb is a major concern of ours as well."
"Americans should recognize that deterrence is, in Israeli eyes, an unattractive alternative to prevention, because, if deterrence fails, Israel would suffer terribly."
"[The] U.S.-Israel relationship has come under unprecedented attack. Some of these critics argue that Israel has manipulated the U.S. government to act counter to the American national interest, which – if properly understood – would see Israel as a liability... We reject that critique."
The Task Force recommends that the new president’s policy options should include coercive options and preventive military action against Iran. They ask the president to use his position to convey directly to the American people that Iran’s "nuclear ambitions are likely to trigger a surge of nuclear proliferation…The central argument is that preventing Iran’s acquisition of a nuclear weapons capability is not special pleading for America’s ally Israel – it is vital to America’s own security."
Included among the signatories to this Statement are advisers to Senators Barack Obama and John McCain. They include Dennis Ross, Obama’s senior adviser on Middle East affairs. Ross served as co-convener of this task force and is a consultant to WINEP. Other foreign policy advisers to Sen. Obama who signed in support of this Statement are Richard Clarke, Susan Rice, and Anthony Lake. R. James Woolsey, adviser to Sen. McCain and adviser to WINEP signed as well.Worth noting is the cover of the publication that displays a photograph with U.S. and Israeli flags waving behind a line of uniformed men and women armed with what I am told by a veteran are AR-15's, M-16's and AK-47's.
Considering the working relationship with advisers to both presidential candidates, the exchange of information with members of the intelligence community and even a special visit in October 2007 by Vice President Dick Cheney, there is little doubt that the Washington Institute for Near East Policy will continue to live up to its mission to draft and shape U.S. policy in the Middle East - a policy that assigns a high priority to a preventive military attack on Iran.
