Tehran's Other Rival

Thomas P.M. Barnett seconds my take on Roger Cohen's article:

We are getting a big-time sales push on military strikes against Tehran from Israel and its U.S. supporters, so demonization is the order of the day. I find all this to be a huge sideshow to the real struggle in the region: Shia Iran versus the Sunni House of Saud. Israel is merely a tactical instrument for Tehran in its strategic approach to the Saudis and the Arab world in general. That's not to say Israel's fears aren't warranted. It's just to say that America needs to worry about its own strategic interests in the region, which are not identical to Israel's fears.

Defending Israel as an ally and understanding Israel's legitimate concerns is important. But seeing no conceivable distinction between Israel's interests and America's is not state-craft.