IDF Chief snubbed in Washington - a message to Israel
Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona U.S. Air Force (Retired) March 25, 2009
http://francona.blogspot.com:80/2009/03/idf-chief-snubbed-in-washington-message.html

The Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi,
visited Washington, DC, last week to meet with senior American officials to
discuss what Israel believes is the growing Iranian threat to his country.
In light of President Obama's attempts to reach out to the mullahs in
Tehran - the most recent a Nowruz (Persian new year) video message - the IDF
chief brought new intelligence on Iran's nuclear and missile programs.

Both American and Israeli intelligence establishments believe that Iran is
intent on developing nuclear weapons. The difference between the two
assessments is how soon Iran will achieve that capability. The Israelis
believe the Iranians are on the verge of developing a nuclear warhead for
its ballistic missiles - missiles that can easily reach anywhere in Israel.

Press reports described Ashkenazi's reception in Washington as
"extraordinarily cool" - he did not meet with any of the Obama Cabinet,
including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. He also was unable to schedule
a meeting with his counterpart, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Admiral Mike Mullen. Add to that list Director of National Intelligence
Admiral Dennis Blair.

This is almost unheard of. The United States and Israel have close military
and intelligence ties. It is quite normal for the IDF chief to meet with
defense and intelligence officers. Keep in mind that in Israel, the defense
establishment is the senior intelligence authority, making Ashkenazi not
only Admiral Mullen's counterpart, but Admiral Blair's as well. Meetings
such as those that did not happen are commonplace, at least they were.

What has changed? Obviously, we have a new administration whose foreign
policy is somewhat changed. The unavailability of virtually any senior
official is telling. This administration appears to have determined that
forging a new relationship with Iran may come at the expense of the close
relationship with Israel that goes back decades.

The only meeting with a senior American official was with National Security
Advisor General James Jones. However, the meeting was focused on U.S.
demands that Israel lift some military restrictions on the West Bank and in
the Gaza Strip. Jones was not there to listen to anything about what Israeli
leaders considers an "existential" threat to the Jewish state.

The IDF spokesman tried to soften the blow with this emailed explanation,
"The schedule for the United States visit of the IDF Chief of the General
Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, was preplanned according to requests made by
American officials. Any meetings that were canceled were substituted with
telephone conference calls." An IDF internet site claimed that Ashkenazi
returned to Israel to participate in talks revolving around the negotiations
for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Conference calls? I'm not buying it. This treatment of General Ashkenazi is
a not-so-subtle message to the Israelis: the situation has changed and you
may be on your own in dealing with the Iranians.

How else can the Israelis interpret it? Obama has made several overtures to
the Iranians - a terrorist country (unless you ask Janet Napolitano, then it
is a "state sponsor of human-caused disasters") according to the State
Department - all of which have been rebuffed. Obama advisors are urging the
President to talk to not only the Taliban (a terrorist organization), but
also Hizballah and Hamas (also terrorist organizations). As one analyst
(that would be me) puts it, "We are trying to talk to the exact people we
should be trying to kill."

Rather than dissuading the Israelis from a military strike on Iran's nuclear
facilities, the Obama Administration's refusal to talk to senior Israeli
military and intelligence officials may actually hasten the action they seek
to stop. If Israel cannot get some assurance of support from the United
States, it will feel compelled to act unilaterally.

Mr. President, you are talking to the wrong people.
====
Since retiring from the Air Force, Lt Col Francona has written Ally to
Adversary: An Eyewitness Account of Iraq's Fall from Grace, and consulted
with government and private firms. FROM 2003 to 2008, he was a media
analyst on Middle East political-military events for NBC News, and appeared
regularly on NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, MSNBC, CNBC, Hardball,
Countdown, and others.

The colonel has a bachelors degree in government and the Arabic language,
and a masters degree in international relations with a concentration in
Middle East studies. His decorations include the Defense Distinguished
Service Medal, the Bronze Star, and nine Air Medals, as well as campaign
awards for service in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and the Balkans. The
colonel was awarded the Central Intelligence Agency Seal Medallion for his
service with that agency. In 2006, Lt Col Francona was inducted into the
Defense Language Institute Hall of Fame.