Your attempt to apply the lessons of the Cuban missile crisis to the situation with Iran [PN 2550] omits an important piece of the jigsaw: Israel.
Would we really be on the brink of a catastrophe were it not for Mr Netanyahu’s attempt to push Obama into a corner, and on the very eve of the elections lead him by the nose with his synthetic hysteria, his ridiculous bomb cartoon and ‘red lines’?
Milan Rai writes: Thank you for your letter. I agree that the current Israeli leadership has heightened the danger of war over Iran’s nuclear programme. However, quite independently of Israel’s warmongering, the US has long been on a path towards confrontation with Iran, for reasons explored in previous issues of PN.
We’ve also long argued that the Israeli threats to strike Iran have so far been negotiating devices, to exert pressure on the US, rather than real operational plans.