EUnuchs Step Up to the Plate
The UK (an exception to the EUnuch rule), Germany and France have proposed a new resolution on Iran. Instead of giving up altogether after meeting fierce opposition they have opted to offer a kinder, gentler resolution that would note that Iran is in violation but could put off Security Council action for years if they choose to comply. Putting this off for years is not something that I'm looking forward to but it would be best to give them the benefit of the doubt for now. The obstacles remain the Russians and Chinese as well as members of the Non-Aligned Movement - which means that they are pretty aligned as far as I'm concerned. The NAM members may even opt not to show up at the scheduled meeting so that a quorum is not met.
posted by theCardinal @ 8:32 AM
2 Comments:
The alternative to diplomacy can be very costly. Concentrating only on the financial burden for taxpayers, the American Enterprise Institute and the Brookings Institution decided to get together. The report includes:
"Government policies are routinely subjected to rigorous cost analysis. Yet one of today's most controversial and expensive policies - the ongoing war in Iraq - has not been. . . We estimate . . .costs through 2015 could be $604 billion to the US, $95 billion to coalition partners, and $306 billion to Iraq, suggesting a global total . . . of about $1 trillion."
First of all thanks for providing the link to the AEI/Brookings report. I had meant to but then forgot.
Diplomacy is unfortunately the only option. I say unfortunately because while force is rarely the answer and much less in the case of Iran - the threat of force can often be a great motivator at the negotiating table. I don't think anyone - Iran in particular - believes that the US would be able to deliver a crippling blow to the nuclear ambitions of Tehran. This allows them to obstruct at will and if W wants to blame someone for this he can't look at Schroeder - it's his own fault.
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