One hopes the Obama Administration is paired with Israel in a game of good-cop-bad-cop against Iran. That’s the only thing that would make sense after reading of the latest Administration admonitions to Israel on that nation’s plans to take out Iranian nuclear-weapon facilities. Iran has not only promised to develop a weapon as soon as possible, it has vowed to use it to “wipe Israel off the face of the map.”

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who plainly told CBS a month ago that military force would be used before Iran gets its first nuclear weapon, is now warning Israel against such a move, saying Israel is not giving negotiations time to succeed. Those “negotiations” have been going on since George W. Bush’s first term. Mr. Panetta is a super-smart guy; he can’t be played for the fool by Iran. Right? 

Or was his 60 Minutes interview audience intended to be the Israeli government and not the American public?  One hopes not.  It is more reassuring to believe in the good-cop-bad-cop scenario. Because once Iran has that weapon, the world will be a very different place.