And the sanctions were toothless in the first place. "West softens stance on Iran nuclear sanctions," from Reuters, March 6 (thanks to Alexandre):
A Western proposal for fresh UN sanctions on Iran includes a call for restricting new Iranian banks abroad and urges "vigilance" against the Islamic Republic's central bank, diplomats said on Friday.Speaking on condition of anonymity, Western diplomats familiar with negotiations on the draft proposal - which Washington worked on with Britain, France and Germany and then shared with Russia and China - said they were no longer pushing for an official UN blacklisting of the central bank....
Of course. Don't want to anger the poor dears.
"Of course. Don't want to anger the poor dears."
We must make sure that Mohammedan feelings are assuaged and appeased at all times.
'Vigilance' - gawsh, that is a lot less harsh than either 'outrage' or 'condemnation.'
NVUH
This entire episode, spanning two US Administrations, will go down in history as infamously as Munich in 1938. Chamberlain is alive and well.
Chamberlain is alive and well.
Can you say...'reincarnation'...He's not only alive and well, he's in charge...
We can expect a speech from Ahmadinejad accepting Americas surrender...with major concessions on his mind...
"Chamberlain is alive and well."
OK but - is Enoch Powell alive and well, too?
"Crippling" sanctions? Possibly with a walker, or a mechanized wheelchair, or even a free hip replacement operation, paid for by the world's Infidels, thrown in?
"Vigilance" -- I expect that will mean the same level of auditing that the IRS exerts over the various Islamic "charities'" books, most of which are years behind in their required accounting.
It might be better to revive the "vigilance committees" of the Old West. And not just in regard to Iranian banks.
@Cornelius & duh_swami.
Chamberlain reincarnated. I like that. Sacrifice Israel? Hey, why stop now...
Maybe Obamberlain should campaign for Ahmadinejad in Iran, the opposition needs all the help they can get.
There are already any number of Iranians who are adversely impacted by the existing sanctions. The idea of further sanctions or sanctions to begin with is breathtaking in its audacity, hyprocrisy and selectivity.
Amusing to say the least that a collection of countries that already have nuclear weapons are demonizing an Iran that has none and says it doesn't seek any, while ignoring other countries that also have nuclear weapons and don't appear to be the recipient of threats or harsh sanctions.
The idea that Stalin, Mao, and the officers of Islamabad can have nuclear weapons, but the mere possibility that Ayatollah Khamanei might get one at some point in the future is deemed unbearable, is simply laughable.
It's no laughing matter when nukes are in the hand of the kind of people who support suicide bombings and jihad. The Pakistanis were very closing to launching nukes at india during the last conflict. You want instable foolish people like that to posses nukes? Whatever you can say about those lousy commies at least they did not relish the idea of national suicide.. and neither do all the western countries with nukes.
The government makes contingency plans for major events should they come to pass.
*** Bukhari Vol 1 Bk 1 Nbr 6 ***
Wonder what the plan is for when a thermonuclear blast hits Israel? It's inevitable now, so we have a right to know whether Prez Osama will do what Dubya did and appear on national TV and say we don't know who perpretrated this but Islam is a relgion of peace.
Yeah, BUT ....
Even though those you mentioned are indeed a threat (although Stalin is dead), they do not compare to Iran; and as soon as they lay their hands on a nuke, then they will certainly make good on their stated threat to WIPE ISRAEL OFF OF THE MAP, dontcha know.
Obama MIGHT turn out to be as bad a Bush.
Now there’s a bit of quite fancy thinking!
"an Iran that has none (nuclear weapons) and says it doesn't seek any"
LOL! LIARS! AHMEDINAJAD LIAR!
Hey Mohammedan, if Iran has nuclear weapons Israel is history. What do you think, we're stupid? BRAVO ISRAEL! The ONLY civilized country in the God-forsaken pathetic and pitiful moon-god-worshipping Mo Middle East. Barbarians.
"...a collection of countries that already have nuclear weapons are demonizing an Iran that has none and says it doesn't seek any..."
And given their incendiary rhetoric and oft-stated intentions to eliminate Israel, you believe them? Even aside from Iran's belligerence and threats, there are other reasons for being skeptical about their intentions. Iran is sitting atop some of the largest oil reserves in the world and, unlike most countries who have to depend on the importation of foreign oil, it doesn't need nuclear power plants to run its economy. Yet, instead of developing their domestic oil capabilities they throw resources into developing an unneeded nuclear technology. We see announcements about uranium enrichment on a trajectory leading to weapons grade, announcements about digging their nuclear infrastructure into mountains, announcements about successful tests of intermediate range ballistic missiles, but where is their announcement about building a peaceful nuclear power plant to actually generate electricity? The signs all point toward development of a nuclear weapons capability, despite their claims to the contrary.
When the stakes are as high as they are here, moral equivocation such as you engage in about who has the "right" to have nuclear weapons is, at best, an academic debating point. While it might have a place in coffee house discussions, in the world of realpolitik it is little more than noise and chatter.
fairuzfan, we know who you are and you're not one of us. Any post from you is read here as coming from the eye of the enemy, and so is read as such.
Iran doesn't need to do anything more then what they are already doing today (to their own people, not their enemies I might add), to prove what a crime against humanity that regime is.
Every day that goes by when the West is standing by and do nothing, is a stein that will go down in its history.
But I'm not blaming you fairuzfan, you're not on our side, worse yet, you pretend to be. I make no distinctions between enemies and the ones who aid them. You're one and the same.
This will leave Israel with no other choice but to strike 1st.
Weakness and indecisions lead to a quicker death, especially when dealing with Muslims.
The whole business of sanctions on Iran was nonsensical from the start, people. It was a classic example of stomping around, talking very loudly, and carrying no stick at all.
Further, we live in a world where getting and making a nuclear weapon is not very hard. A host of countries from Taiwan to Trinidad have the wealth, know-how, and possible incentives to make such devices. Add to this the fact that China probably welcomes Iran's entry into the nuclear club as a possible ally and counterweight to the US, and the impossibility of making sanctions against Iran stick becomes all the more clear.
Hi fairuzfan
Eastview's rebuttal to your post is about the best. Desidude was pretty good too. Care to tell them why they are wrong, other than by saying you believe Ahmadinejad's word?
******
BTW, you writing "The idea that Stalin, Mao, and the officers of Islamabad can have nuclear weapons, but the mere possibility that Ayatollah Khamanei might get one at some point in the future is deemed unbearable, is simply laughable" is a straw man.
First, they were all bad actors, the world would have been better off if they never had these weapons - no one should think otherwise. The USSR, the PRC, and the IRP are threats in ways that the US, the UK, France, Israel, and India are not.
Second, proliferation threats are not that serious when only one or two bad actors get them, but grow worse as more do. That's obvious.
Third, Stalin and Mao controlled huge closed societies at a time when we lacked the technology to penetrate them and gain any meaningful intelligence on their WMD projects. Practically, we could do nothing to stop them short of genocidal nuclear attacks. But what if the U.S. had today's capabilities in 1947? The world would have been better off if certain industrial sites in Siberia were leveled.
I think you definitely have a point about Islamabad. We were lulled by the effectiveness of nuclear deterrence up to 1990. So what if Pakistan got the bomb, we would contain it. This reasoning now appears to be faulty, and Iran would be triply worse. Deterrence requires that bad actors be rational actors, and that world is going fast.
All that time we thought it was Iran that was playing for time.
Turns out it was Obama...
This makes me revert back to my old suspicions that Obama is a Muslim.
'Speaking on condition of anonymity, Western diplomats...' - my oh my why the anonymity? Don't they want the praise of the Thug in Chief and Obambi? We are showing our weakness at our peril. The only language the Mo worshipping rabble recognise, being the supreme cowards that they are, is the language of force. This stance will do us nor Israel any favours. I pray every day that Israel, the only ones with some cohones, will take affirmative action soon.
The day when these weazel 'Western diplomats' are tried for treason can't come soon enough.
The West to Iran: "If you don't abandon your nuclear program to develop a nuclear bomb we will impose strong 'vigilance' on your central bank."
Iran to the West: "Thank Allah! We thought you might actually 'blacklist' the bank."
There was no votes from other nation on the Security Council for more sancant on Iran/Brazil and Turkey along with many nation on the Security council said no.So what will you convict racist do next.
It is obvious that sanctions have no effect on Iran. What is this continual talk about sanctions then when we know they don't work. These guys (the nut cases running the country)will continue to snub their noses at us and rightly see us as being weak.
Talk is cheap and it will only be catastrophic physical action that will eventually stop these people on their genocidal path to wipe out Israel.
If my neighbour persisted on threatening me year after year I would eventually resort to whatever means possible to quiet and subdue them before it was too late.
Dictatorships have no regard for the individual - as can be seen by the path these fools are following.
I am just waiting for the big bang - Iran bombed to hell and back. Show no mercy Israel and have the Iranian leadership beg for an unconditional surrender.
Your annihilation and demise is on their agenda. Get in first and hit 'em hard...