Everybody Just Chill The Hell Out, He's Got This

Obama walks Joe Biden's weekend comments on Israel back, then chucks them in the trash can.

The United States is "absolutely not" giving Israel a green light to attack Iran, U.S. President Barack Obama told CNN Tuesday.

"We have said directly to the Israelis that it is important to try and resolve this in an international setting in a way that does not create major conflict in the Middle East," Obama said, referring to Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Obama has been in Moscow for a summit aimed at trying to reset the U.S.-Russian relationship.

On Sunday, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden appeared to leave the door open for Israel to attack Iran if it saw fit.

"Israel can determine for itself -- it's a sovereign nation -- what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else," Biden said on ABC's "This Week."

Obama said Tuesday that Biden had simply been stating a fact, not sending a signal.

"I think Vice President Biden stated a categorical fact, which is we can't dictate to other countries what their security interests are. What is also true is that it is the policy of the United States to resolve the issue of Iran's nuclear capabilities in a peaceful way through diplomatic channels," he said.

And he did it in a way that did not throw the Vice-President under the bus. Well played, old man. Well played, and very, very necessary. When Obama delivers, he delivers big.

[UPDATE 6:28 PM] Not only did Obama walk the idea of attacking Iran back, but so did Joint Chiefs Chair Adm. Mike Mullen.

Well, actually, I honestly didn't even — I didn't see that report. I've been one who have been concerned about a strike on Iran for some time because it could be very destabilizing, and it is the unintended consequences of that which aren't predictable.

Smart.