[Hoot Gibson]

I find it ironic that Barack Obama's reelection chances may hinge more on the timing of Israel's strike on Iran than anything else. I wonder if he regrets the disrespect that he has shown Netanyahu over the past three years.

There is no doubt that Israel would rather see Obama defeated this fall than not. Obama's policies in north Africa and the Middle East have created chaos and in Libya, Egypt, and Syria, and now they are threatening to plunge our country into another recession - one that Obama will not be able to blame on Bush.

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Oil price rise raises specter of global recession

(Reuters) - A jump in energy prices is jamming the slow-turning cogs of an economic recovery in the West, but that may be nothing compared to the economic shock an Israeli attack on Iran would cause.

Oil rose to a 10-month high above $125 a barrel Friday, prompting responses from policymakers around the world including U.S. President Barack Obama, watching U.S. gasoline prices follow crude to push toward $4 a gallon in an election year.

Europe may have more to fear as its fragile economic growth falters and Greece, Italy and Spain look for alternative sources to the crude they currently import from Iran, where an EU oil embargo, intended to make Iran abandon what the West fears are efforts to develop nuclear weapons, comes into force in June.

In euro terms, Brent crude rose to an all-time high of 93.60 euros this week, topping its 2008 record.

"The West's determination to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons is coming at a price - a price that might include a second global recession triggered by an oil shock," said David Hufton from the oil brokerage PVM.

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