BLUNTNESS – AT 9:57 A.M. ET:  Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, has been talking tough recently, first about the possibility of war on the Korean peninsula, and now about Iran.  It is a somewhat surprising turn, coming from a man who has traditionally been the consummate soldier-diplomat.  From Fox:

Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb, posing a threat to its neighbors, and the United States is "very ready" to counter Iran should it make a move, the top U.S. military officer said Saturday.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reassured Persian Gulf nations nervous that an increasingly militarized government in Iran might try to start a war.

"The United States takes very seriously our security commitments in the Gulf region," Mullen said following a meeting with Bahrain's king. Bahrain, directly across the Gulf from Iran, is home to a large U.S. Navy base that would be on the front lines of any war with Iran.

"We're very ready," Mullen said, an unusually direct acknowledgment that the United States has contingency plans to counter Iran should it make a move. "There are real threats to peace and stability here, and we've made no secrets of our concerns about Iran."

Iran denies it is seeking a nuclear weapon, and denies U.S. claims that it sponsors terrorists. Iran has wary relations with many of its neighbors, who are trading partners with the oil giant but distrust the theocratic government.

COMMENT:  Well, how ready are we to counter Iran?  It is doubtful that Mullen would have spoken out without the approval of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.  But does he have the approval of President Obama, who makes the final decisions? 

We don't know.  It may well be that the military feels more assertive in light of the recent election.  At least in the House, committee chairmen will be far more pro-military once the new Congress is sworn.

But Iran is signaling readiness for a new round of "talks," and the appeasement-minded Europeans are grabbing at the chance to delay any real action until these "talks" take place, as they've taken place for about seven years. 

The big political question is whether President Obama will move to the center.  We've seen a few signs of that, an echo of what Bill Clinton did after his party suffered staggering losses in the 1994 midterms.  But Obama isn't Clinton.  Obama is a true believer, a hardline liberal.  It will take more time, and more examples, to spot any real change in his approach, especially in matters like Iran and North Korea.

December 18, 2010