Crossing the Red Line: Will Attacks on U.S. Embassies Lead to All-Out War
BLACKWELL: It is a phrase we've heard a lot over the past few days, red lines. Now the line is crossed, that's the one that brings us to war. The U.S. is facing those lines in the Middle East right now in the wake of the embassy attacks. And the line is also staring the U.S. in the face when it comes to Iran, and it's become a bone of contention with Israel. CNN's senior international correspondent Sara Sidner joins us live from Israel -- from Jerusalem. Sara, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned the red line this week. Listen.</s>BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: The world tells Israel, wait. There's still time, and I say wait for what? Wait until when? Those international communities who refuse to put red lines before Iran don't have a moral right to place a red light before Israel.</s>BLACKWELL: OK. So tell us specifically, what is this red light he's speaking of, and if you could clear up those in the international community he's speaking of.</s>SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, it's pretty clear those are extremely strong words, perhaps the strongest words we've heard from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when it comes to this issue of Iran potentially possessing a nuclear weapon. When he talks about the international community, he's certainly talking about the United States first and then the rest of the community, who has then put sanctions on Iran. Publicly though, the exact red line hasn't been spelled out by Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing the U.S. to draw the line in the sand, so to speak, and the resulting action it's going to take if Iran crosses it. But in a late-night phone conversation this week between Mr. Obama and Mr. Netanyahu, reports have leaked out that the prime minister proposed making the size of Iran's stockpile of uranium that is close to bomb grade a reason for a strike by the United States. The Obama administration has been very clear in saying it doesn't want to make deadlines, stoplights or red lines on Iran's nuclear program, because it puts the U.S. in a box. It really forces its hand, and it could give Iran also a timeline as to when a strike might happen, and it could prepare for that. But the administration, Mr. Obama, has said time and again that Iran possessing a nuclear weapon is not an option, so it appears that that is the actual red line for the United States if it discovers that Iran does indeed possess nuclear weapons.</s>BLACKWELL: And these latest proposals of the red line, these are just the latest red lines because it has been, over the years, a moving target for both Israel and the</s>U.S. SIDNER: Yes. Let's go ahead and talk about one thing. We talked about Iran possibly getting a bomb. And some of the -- Israel has really said, look, if Iran's able to make a nuclear warhead, then it's too late. Iran will be in the zone of immunity, as Israel has called it. But let's look back. Iran's leaders, we have to mention this though, have said time and again that they are not trying to build a nuclear weapon, but only using their nuclear program for peaceful purposes, such as to make energy and medical isotopes. But worry over Iran's nuclear ambitions has been going on for nearly 20 years now, since it announced that it was going to go ahead and work with Russia to build a civilian nuclear reactor. So back in 1995, Israel's red line, if you will, was that Iran should not possess a nuclear reactor. Then a few years later, because it did, it was able to do that, the line moved, and Israel said, OK, it should not be able to convert uranium. Several years after that, after it already has begun converting uranium, it was said that Iran should not be able to enrich uranium to 5 percent. Then we're going down the line here, we're talking about 2000, 2002, 2009. The line moved again that Iran should not have centrifuges, no covert facilities and no ability to make a bomb. So there's a clear progression here, where the line seems to keep moving as Iran keeps progressing. But now in 2012, this rhetoric that we're hearing is really, really heightened with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Iran's nuclear ambition is the biggest threat to the world today, and Israel believes that it could possess a bomb within a year.</s>BLACKWELL: And now let's talk about what Jay Carney called an encounter between Benjamin Netanyahu and the president. The president's being criticized now for not planning a face-to-face meeting with the prime minister during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly. What's the latest on that?</s>SIDNER: Here's what we can tell you. The Obama administration sent out a statement after a report came out that he basically snubbed Prime Minister Netanyahu when he's going to be coming there for the U.N. meeting. The White House said that is not true, that they were never asked for a meeting nor did they ever deny a meeting with Mr. Netanyahu. However, this week I spoke to Mr. Netanyahu's spokesperson, who said actually they had wanted a meeting and that they were willing to go to Washington, so you're seeing a bit of information that doesn't match up there. What you're seeing, I think, there is another crack in the relationship between these two leaders, which, frankly, makes people here very nervous. A lot of people are saying that it's really a dangerous thing, and some politicians, by the way, saying it's a dangerous thing to start knocking the United States right now, that Israel depends on the relationship of the United States as an important ally, one of its most important allies. And they have criticized Mr. Netanyahu for the way he's handled this by pushing this relationship, making the cracks even bigger. There's definitely no love lost between these two leaders, it appears, Victor.</s>BLACKWELL: Yes, it appears to be very cool. CNN's senior international correspondent Sara Sidner, thank you very much. Coming up next hour, we'll talk politics, did Mitt Romney speak too soon? Did the president drop the ball by hitting the campaign trail during the crisis? Maria Cardona and Amy Holmes, they'll be along to break it all down.</s>KAYE: There may be a deal reached in Chicago's teachers' strike. A live report is next on what still needs to be hammered out to make it all final.