The Washington Post has put up an interview with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on US foreign policy and the 2012 elections. Kissinger states that the US “cannot” go ahead and “make a public announcement than can be used by Israel or any country as its justification for going to war”:

There are two ways to look at red lines. One is, “should we make a public announcement than can be used by Israel or any country as its justification for going to war?” That we cannot do.

No. We cannot subcontract the right to go to war. That is an American decision.

Kissinger also merged Washington’s previously stated red line, an Iranian nuclear weapon, with Israel’s red line, nuclear capability, when arguing that the White House needs to decide what preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon boils down to:

Now, we do need to define for ourselves when we say that nuclear weapons are unacceptable — nuclear weapons capability is unacceptable — we need to know for ourselves what we mean by that. What is the definition?

I would say private red line, publicly decided in terms of tactical necessity.

Kissinger concluded by endorsing Mitt Romney’s “responsible foreign policy.”

On Iran, Mitt Romney told ABC that his “redlines” are essentially the same as Obama’s. But he subsequently changed his position on the subject when pressed by pro-Israel advocates in a private campaign forum, the Cable reports. It’s now unclear which position he and his foreign policy advisors agree on.