As the world applauds the interim nuclear deal with Iran -- cautiously -- Israel and its staunch supporters, which include a big chunk of the U.S. Congress, the neo-conservatives and the religious (Christian) right, reacted furiously. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upped his ante from calling the landmark accord a "bad deal" to branding it a "historic mistake."

The ferocity of the reaction from the naysayers sent a chill down Justin Raimondo from Anti-war.com's spine, and he wrote a piece called "A Moment of Great Danger," describing his fears that Israel and its supporters will stop at nothing to undo the deal, that would make war more likely.

Why then did the U.S. president try serious diplomacy with Iran even at the risk of alienating his closest ally Israel?

Obama ran for president on ending wars, and favoring diplomacy. In a CNN/YouTube debate with his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in July 2007, the candidates were asked by a viewer if they would be willing to meet with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela and North Korea. Obama said he would be willing, adding that "it is a disgrace that we have not spoken to them." He declared that one of his first actions of diplomacy in the Middle East would be "to send a signal that we need to talk to Iran and Syria…."

That was an unpopular stance then as it is now. His handlers hastened to put a spin on his words as either misspoken or misunderstood. But it was not a gaffe.

Obama's secret outreach to Iran began some seven months ago in March, when Iran was still governed by Ahmadinnejad, whose inflammatory rhetoric severely worsened the Islamic Republic's relations with the West. Obama sent William Burns, the deputy secretary of State, and a former lead U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiator; Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor to Vice President Joe Biden; and Puneet Talwar, the National Security Staff senior director for Iran, and Persian Gulf affairs, to Muscat, capital of Oman, to meet in secret with their Iranian counterparts.

There were several secret meetings, although one source says three, and another says at least five. Obama informed Netanyahu of those meetings three days after he made his historic phone call to Rouhani on Sept. 27. Bibi strongly disagreed with Obama's approach.

I have said the American president was motivated by his desire to avoid getting stuck in a mire in the Middle East that would hamper his strategy to rebalance to the Asia Pacific. He also talked about the war weariness of the American people.

A recent official Pentagon presentation revealed at a security industry conference in Augusta, Georgia disclosed that there have been 44 American military interventions since the end of World War II -- one a year -- between 1945 and 1989, and another 100 --three to four a year -- since the end of the Cold War. The trend is toward longer interventions, which require maintenance of ground forces -- a long, costly investment.

That was the backdrop for a frank statement made by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in Washington, which summed up the American public's position as it is reflected in opinion polls: "No more Wars, no more Middle East." They don't want to spill any more blood or money into the sand of countries in the same region as Afghanistan and Iraq, and they are prepared to give diplomatic dialogue a chance.

As president, Obama has to heed the desires of the voters. That was also why he did not launch cruise missiles at Damascus to bomb Syria back to the stone age, as he looked into the black hole to see the terrible consequences of such an act.

But let us not exaggerate Obama's "transformation." He has declared that the military option against Iran remains on the table.

Yet, he has to adjust or fine-tune U.S. policy, because the world has changed, and U.S. power and influence are on the decline. As a Chinese saying goes: "An objective situation is more powerful than subjective will."

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/zhaojinglun.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

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