[Atlantic Monthly] Robert D. Kaplan - Gaza is bordered by Egypt, and was under Egyptian military control from 1949 through 1967. Yet the mullahs in Tehran hold more sway in Gaza today than does the regime of Hosni Mubarak. Gaza constitutes the western edge of Iran's veritable new empire. Israel's attack on Gaza is, in effect, an attack on Iran's empire. U.S. diplomacy with Iran now rests on whether or not Israel succeeds. We need to create leverage before we can negotiate with the clerical regime, and that leverage can only come from an Israeli moral victory. If he is smart, President-elect Obama will now be quietly rooting for Israel. The writer is a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
2009-01-07 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive