Hillary Clinton telling Iran that the US is looking for sanctions that bite is like telling them they’re going to be grounded and cannot go outside.
Sanctions don’t work as far as political threats are concerned in the Middle East – at best they are “hit or miss.” And as reported in Daniel Ammann’s new book, The King of Oil, Israel got 60-90% of its oil from Iran at a time that they weren’t officially recognized because it was in everyone’s interest to be business partners although publicly they had to “not save face” and remain bitter enemies.
So all this jawboning about Iran does nothing but keep the War Machine moving forward. More importantly, it keep donors’ wallets open for the Dems who may need all the help and support they can get in November.
Officially, the US wants to stop Iran from developing a uranium enrichment program. Iran is the second largest producer of crude oil in OPEC. They can go buy a nuclear weapon or dozens of them. Pragmatically, I don’t think there’s much the US can do but fight this in the headlines.
Iran needs to keep the oil flowing and they will…to China and India or anyone else who needs it. After crude oil, Iran’s largest exports are, ready for this, Persian carpets, pistachios, and saffron and its main trading partners are Japan and Germany.
Secretary Clinton was quoted in the NYT article as saying “parts of Iran’s government are ”a menace” to the Iranian people and the Middle East.” If I didn’t know any better, that sounds a lot like the United States…parts of our government are a menace to me and you, especially the FRB and the CFTC. We have a lot in common with the Persians from that standpoint.
“Clinton said that if Iran developed a nuclear weapon, it would embolden terrorists and spark an arms race that would destabilize the Middle East.” It might be me, but I think poking a stick in their eye emboldens them more than anything else. My guess is that they have them already, not officially speaking.
Politicians will get behind this because they are elected by their donors, not their constituents, but in the end, Iran will stare down the US and win.
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I don’t think the saber rattling being done would be as cavalier if the USA knew Iran had the bomb.
Don’t be naive: If Iran’s holding of nuclear weapons was public knowledge the goading would be a thousand times more intense. After all, what better opportunity for power grabbing can you get than a nuclear attack?
Naive? Why not the heavy pressure on Russia or North Korea? China?If Saddam had a nuclear weapon, the US would never have dared invaded fearing what they would provoke. If Iran has a nuke and goes public, then they would have quite a bargaining chip. Sure, the US and it’s allies would scream bloody murder, but they wouldn’t seriously breathe threats like they are now.
World leaders are stupid sometimes, but they do value their wormy little lives. They won’t risk annihilation.
If the U.S. govt. wants to put a dent in Iran’s oil business, I don’t think prohibiting our own businessmen from buying Iranian oil is the best move. Wouldn’t it be more logical to make the oil industry more competitive by privatizing oil reserves in U.S. territory? Not that I have it in for the Iranians. Just sayin’.
The Iranians most certainly do not have a nuclear weapon. There would be no discussion of invasion if there was. And the “threat” — some might say “security” — by having a nuclear weapon only works if you’ve got more than one.
Iran will not win in the end, the US government will. The US government’s empire is holding most of the cards in the region. But American citizens will lose along with Iranian citizens, and, of course, the citizens of neighboring countries.
If it doesn’t bring the whole world with it. The world dove into a world war because of one Serbian lunatic. The result of which was the death of liberalism, and the birth inflationism, and socialism.
great article. iran will surely get the bomb, if they don’t already have it. as will every nationstate on earth. it is just technology. it is not magic. american and israel hubris that wants to dictate terms to the entire earth, that they themselves don’t even live by, is preposterous. the usa is a dying wicked empire. it is the modern version of the evil empire on planet. not unlike other dying empires of past. we are running on fumes. raygunomics has stomped out the capital and replaced it with iou’s and an enormous, expensive, inefectual army. i wish the pentagon and cia would re read “art of war”. the unending battles that drain the treasury and the saber rattling are almost a guarantee to losing the long war.
iran will be around in another 300 years. usa as it stands now will not. usa could not even hold it together for the first 100 years without a civil war. we are bankrupt now, and heading for the dustbin of history. the usa will have a financial civil war between the states as we get poorer. followed by a breakup of the union. the usa will not be united in another couple of centuries. persia has been a nationstate for many centuries. it almost goes without saying that the iranians will outlast the americans. except for the propaganda victims inside the usa that have been harping on the boring old mantra that the usa is exceptional and the best nation ever. silly sayings for an adolescent nation.
great take mike.
Iran’s production of oil is declining while its imports of gasoline are sky rocketing due to subsidies for gasoline. Within the next decade Iran will import more than it exports and will rapidly become poorer than it is. It will need to borrow internationally just to feed its people.
But the issue is out of US hands. Israel is certain that Iran will attack it when it gets the bomb. And according to Amir Taheri, the best source on Iran that I have read, Israel is right. Iran will attack. So at some point in the near future, Israel will attack first. Iran has already made clear that it will blame the US for any Israeli attack and will respond with attacks on the US. Sanctions or not, we are headed for war.
If you think about it, all this brouhaha could be an attempt to provoke an Israeli attack – if Iran’s attacking in retaliation, I doubt Russia and China would intervene. If Obama supports the Israelis militarily, the UN would likely side with Iran.
I agree with the author 100%, America’s image has changed in the last 10 years: I think this country is sacrificing itself for the sake of Israel.
America And Persia Dance With Satan!
As an imperialist the unConstitutional coup cannot imagine the uniting of the East and the West. The only unity that fits into the minds of these economic terrorists is worldwide hegemony. Just like it is that everything else is the complete opposite (lies are ‘truth’ and funny money is ‘currency’ and war is ‘peace’) it is the depravity of the ego-driven that is destroying civilization instead of civilization being carried forward in an ever-advancing manner.
The epic battle continues, but in reality it is not the petty name-calling and bullying that we see by these childish nations. Rather it is the permanent removal of the shackles of the ego-driven (superstitiously called Satan) from human affairs. It is the total destruction of the institutions that are built upon ego-driven interpretation and that are built upon ego-driven intervention that will be the blessing that will come from the ultimate victory in this epic battle.
“Politicians will get behind this because they are elected by their donors, not their constituents, but in the end, Iran will stare down the US and win.”
In the end, individuals will stare down at the nation-state and WIN !
The whole concept of nation-state and government must be abolished and replaced by individual sovereignty.
It would certainly be much better for Mrs.Clinton to be more pragmatic. Oil still makes the world to spin. And second- Iran or any other state is not at all the US’ s 52nd state. Sometimes I can not get rid myself of the feeling that she is just the wife of the former US President.
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