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Tim Marshall

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Tim Marshall,

Tim Marshall

Analysis

A brilliant piece of showmanship that won't change Obama's mind

March 5, 2015 12:36
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2 min read

It was a tale told by an incumbent. Full of sound and fury, signifying - votes.

Why else did Prime Minister Netanyahu travel 6,000 miles from the Middle East, in the middle of an election campaign, to give a speech he has given many times before, to an audience that has already heard it?

There was nothing new, even if it was a good speech, argued with conviction and with some excellent turns of phrase - "Game of Thrones… My enemies' enemy is my enemy". However, it does not change anything in the USA-Iran diplomatic dance.

The grand bargain between America and Iran will or won't be done, and Congress will or won't try to derail it, but that train had left the station, is still on the tracks, and nothing Mr Netanyahu said alters its course.