FINANCIAL TIMES: …On Iran, Mr Obama stopped short of establishing the sort of specific “red line” for military action that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has been publicly urging on the Obama administration. However, his forceful tone was partly designed to deflect Israeli concerns that a second term Obama administration would not follow through on its promise to prevent Iran from acquiring a bomb. “A nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained,” he said.
Mr Obama attempted to articulate a framework for the more complicated relationships the US now faces in countries such as Egypt where western-friendly dictators have been replaced by democracies dominated by Islamist parties. “The United States has not, and will not, seek to dictate the outcome of democratic transitions abroad, and we do not expect other nations to agree with us on every issue,” Mr Obama said…
“It is time to marginalise those who – even when not resorting to violence – use hatred of America, or the West, or Israel as a central principle of politics,” he said. “For that only gives cover, and sometimes makes excuses, for those who resort to violence.” … (more)
