OUR REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT:

It doesn't seem far-fetched to surmise that the eagerness with which so many anticipated a change in the U.S. administration back in 2009 was due in part to being rid of that "warmonger" President Bush. To many, including the committee that selects the Nobel Peace Prize, President Bush's exit signaled a more dovish and fact-based foreign policy. But the change in administrations, as many liberals might concede today, did not bring about a different foreign policy. It is true that as recently as one year ago, President Obama warned against "loose talk" of invading Iran. Yet, his position seems to have changed substantially over the last six months. During a visit to Israel last week, the president assured Israel that "America will do what we must to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran."

Lest anyone worry about internal discord, be assured that the president's Cabinet is in line with this increasing hawkishness. In a speech delivered at AIPAC's 2013 conference at the beginning of March, Vice President Biden insisted that the president "was not bluffing" and that "all options, including military force, are on the table" regarding Iran. Obama's new secretary of defense, Chuck Hagel, whose mildly critical voice on Iran and Israel once offered hope to liberals, was criticized at his confirmation hearings by his fellow Republicans for not being aggressive enough on Iran. Happily for Obama and Israel, Hagel has remained perfectly silent since his confirmation. But just in case you worry about Hagel's unduly dovish influence on the president, you can breathe easy. To hear the president speak, no one -- neither Hagel nor his new Secretary of State John Kerry -- will prevent Obama from taking an aggressive stance on Iran. As Josh Gerstein reported 10 days ago, the president assured anyone who cared to listen that:

"When I say that we intend to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, that we're going to pursue all avenues to make sure that that does not happen ... I think my Cabinet is prepared for a whole range of contingencies, but Secretary Kerry and Secretary Hagel share my fundamental view that the issue of Iran's nuclear capability is an issue of U.S. national security interests as well as Israel's national security interests and they also share my view that our commitment to Israel's security is unbreakable."

The president's words echoed Israeli President Shimon Peres' insistence that the U.S. must launch a military strike against Iran in the event that Iran's nuclear program moves past "the point of no return." Even Fox News, a most vigilant observer of all capitulations to Iran, no matter how negligible, enthusiastically described Obama's Israel speech as signaling "all systems go," to Benjamin Netanyahu to attack Iran. All of these speeches and public postures foreshadow another war 10 years after the "reassessments"/errors/apologies/regrets over the invasion of Iraq on visibly false pretenses.

Follow @brothersjudd