Allow me to call him “Bibi,” OK?
He is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, aka Bibi. He’s going to speak Tuesday to a joint session of Congress. I am opposed to the way he was asked to speak — invited by Speaker John Boehner without giving the White House a heads up, thus violating a longstanding rule of diplomacy.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/03/benjamin-netanyahu-address-to-congress-115640.html?hp=r2_3#.VPPabVJ0yt8
But now that he’s coming, let’s hear what he has to say.
A key Republican congressman, Mike Rogers of Michigan, and Michael Doran, a policy wonk at the Hudson Institute, have written an essay laying out the reasons for hearing the prime minister’s remarks.
The chief reason, according to Rogers and Doran, is that Bibi’s speech will spark an important debate about how to deal with Iran and its desire to develop a nuclear program — and virtually everyone agrees means a nuclear weapons program.
Rogers and Doran are incorrect in asserting that President Barack Obama is indifferent about fighting the bad guys of this world. They are correct, though, in suggesting that Bibi is making a courageous stand against his country’s arch-enemy, the Islamic Republic of Iran.
My main problem with his speech is its timing, given that the United States is in the middle of negotiations with Iran to end is nuclear program development.
Still, the prime minister is a key world leader with a vested interest in a permanent Middle East peace.
It cannot happen if Iran develops a nuclear bomb. Let’s hear what Bibi has to say.