Obama mentioned the Iranian regime twice in his Nobel speech--once in the context of nuclear proliferation, once in the context of human rights. (And he didn't call it the Islamic Republic of Iran, as he did in Prague and Cairo.) Reading Obama's speech could lead one to wonder whether this president, who had been committed to engagement with Iran, has decided that engagement has failed and is moving toward pressure and sanctions--and that he has in the back of his mind the possibility that the United States, "acting individually," might have to use force to stop the Iranian nuclear program.
President Bush did leave President Obama the tools to strike Iran.
I do think the president waived his license to kill, allowing him to declare that turning Iran into a desert is peace.
