Tornado Alley (PROG)

[ieddyi]

Could Barack Obama have possibly found a more direct route to self-contradiction in the span of one sentence than this?

The security of our ally Israel is too important to play partisan politics, and it is deeply disappointing that Senator McCain and a few of his allies in Congress feel otherwise.

( Biden, the gift ((joke)) that keeps on giving )



As Yossi Melman suggests in Haaretz, Russia’s decision not to support another round of sanctions against Iran means that the sanctions regime will now collapse:

The UN’s sanctions on Iran have collapsed. That is the only conclusion one can draw from Russia’s announcement earlier this week that it is no longer willing to support the Security Council’s permanent members’ proposal for a new set of sanctions, the fourth of its kind, against Iran.

Melman is right, of course, when it comes to the UN. And one should bow to Iran’s incredible diplomatic skills. They have, after all, signaled to their Western interlocutors that they are ready to consider the “freeze-for-freeze” proposal–a deal where Iran would freeze enrichment in exchange for a freeze on sanctions. Their willingness to discuss this idea has gained them additional time for negotiations. And Russia’s veto has made that offer futile: Iran has obtained a freeze on sanctions without conceding anything. Now, emboldened by this turn of events, Iran will come up with a long list of pretexts and excuses to lengthen negotiations further.

In one fell swoop, two out of three potential instruments of pressure on Iran are gone. The Bush administration is not going to take action in its remaining four months–certainly not in the direction of a military action both Pentagon and State are likely to oppose. And the Security Council is blocked by Russia’s obstructionism. The EU is the only force that can now exact a high price from Iran–through tougher EU sanctions.

This would be the hour of Europe, then–the only power left to impose sanctions that can truly hurt. The EU has, to their credit, been making the right noises lately on Iran’s nuclear program. But don’t hold your breath: in a year of high energy prices and financial meltdown, no Western government is going to ask their companies to make further sacrifices. The road to nuclear weapons lieswide open.


http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/category/contentions