Obama affirms Iran's nuke ambition

"What I do believe is that Iran has legitimate energy concerns, legitimate aspirations."

Those are President Obama's words in a BBC interview about Tehran's nuclear developments.

But according to official government data from 2006, Iran's energy consumption consists mainly of natural gas and oil. The country also ranks top three in terms of natural gas and oil reserves.

So what is the President referring to? Why is President Obama so soft on Iran?

There are many reasons to keep Tehran in check:

• President Ahmadinejad has repeatedly threatened to destroy Israel, a longtime and important American ally in the Middle East.
• The nation has close ties with other anti-American nations such as Cuba and Venezuela, two countries right in our backyard.
• Blatant disregard for human rights -- religious persecution, abuse of women and children, and lack of freedom of expression.

Is this really a country we want to see to become a nuclear power?

Israel knows it's on its own

The Obama administration is bent on the success of Palestinian statehood that it's alienating long-time ally Israel. The country faces the greatest threat from a nuclear Iran and the new Israeli government knows that America may not offer support to pre-emptively strike Iran. Rather than ask for permission from Washington, Israel will just keep us posted on the military operation should there be one.

And who can blame them? Israel has to do what's best for its people, even if that means ignoring what's going on in Washington. They need our support, and a strong Israel only helps America in its footing for a peaceful Middle East.

Mideast peace process is elusive

All eyes are on Israel as its air force continues to selectively strike within Gaza to kill Hamas leaders. Yes, there are civilian casualties, but compared to how Hamas indiscriminately aims its missiles specifically at civilian targets, the IDF is doing its best in preventing collateral damage. Even more worrisome is the fact that Hamas' weaponry has seen significant upgrades recently, including Iranian-made Fajr-3 missiles with greater range. That new firepower threatens Israel's nuclear power plant in Dimona, also a site said to contain the country's nuclear warheads.

There are those like Rosa Brooks of L.A. Times who criticizes Israel for trying to "bomb its way to peace." Never mind that Hamas terrorists started the whole provocation by launching rockets into Israeli towns. Although Brooks acknowledges Israel's right to self-defense and its superior military force, she thinks it's the Israeli politicians playing their game at the expense of rousing more Arab anti-Western sentiments:

Israel has no viable political endgame here: There's just no clear route from bombardment to a sustainable peace. But the damage caused by this new conflagration won't be limited to the Israelis and Palestinians. Israel's military offensive already has sparked outrage and protests throughout the Arab world. The current crisis also may destabilize some of the more moderate Arab governments in the region -- in Egypt, for instance -- where leaders now face popular backlash if they don't repudiate Israel.

And if you think that none of this really matters for us here in the U.S., you're kidding yourself. Arab and Islamic anger over Palestine continues to fuel anti-Western and anti-U.S. terrorism around the globe.

Unfortunately, there is no reasoning with Hamas. Its goal is to annihilate the state of Israel. How can Israel sit at a negotiation table when the other party wishes nothing but its death? Brooks is right in that Israel is in a lose-lose situation, but that doesn't mean it is doing something wrong. Peace in Mideast has been attempted many times but never came to fruition, not because of Israel's unwillingness, but rather because of the Palestinians' undying hostility and self-victimization.

Israel may not be able to bomb its way to peace, but those bombs are a sign that peace can still be achieved, even if through deadly deterrence.

Hamas, death incarnate

Hamas terrorists are killing their own and bombing Israelis in hopes to win the global propaganda war and annihilate the state of Israel, an important American ally. Here's how the Hamas operates:

In direct contravention of international law, Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields, utilizing homes, schools and community centers as launching pads, content in the knowledge that if innocent Palestinian civilians are caught in the cross-fire, it will be Israel that is criticized. This amounts to a sort of Daily Double of human rights violations: the use of innocent Palestinians as human shields for the infliction of violence upon innocent Israelis.

It is Hamas that perfected the use of the suicide bomb, by which young Palestinians were induced to kill themselves so that Israelis could also be killed. It is somehow apt that Hamas should be forever associated with the suicide bomb, for in a larger sense Hamas has proved to be an instrument of the demise of Palestinians in Gaza.

In fact, Hamas has such a bad reputation these days that even oil-rich, wealthy Arab nations won't even help the Palestinians.