Today's article from Ralph Peters lays bare the plans that Russia has for the region, with or without a military strike by the US or Israel."Iran's traditional emblem has been the Persian lion. Russia's should be a vulture: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin intends to feed on the carcass left by any confrontation with Iran.
For Moscow, this crisis isn't about Tehran's acquisition of nukes. It's about Russia's acquisition of a stranglehold on global energy markets.
Putin's playing with fire -- but he's sure we'll be the ones burned.
As for the Obama administration's desperate (and stunningly naive) hope that economic sanctions can deter President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and his fellow thugs-for-Allah from pursuing nuclear weapons, forget it. Even were Putin to permit his front-man, President Dmitri Medvedev, to agree to half-baked sanctions, Moscow would violate them before Obama could step out of Air Force One with a piece of paper in his hand guaranteeing peace in our time."
For Moscow, this crisis isn't about Tehran's acquisition of nukes. It's about Russia's acquisition of a stranglehold on global energy markets.
Putin's playing with fire -- but he's sure we'll be the ones burned.
As for the Obama administration's desperate (and stunningly naive) hope that economic sanctions can deter President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and his fellow thugs-for-Allah from pursuing nuclear weapons, forget it. Even were Putin to permit his front-man, President Dmitri Medvedev, to agree to half-baked sanctions, Moscow would violate them before Obama could step out of Air Force One with a piece of paper in his hand guaranteeing peace in our time."
Especially noteworthy is Peters' use of the words "stunningly naive" and the Neville Chamberlain comparison. Did people actually expect anything more from a community organizer who voted a non-commital "present" about 130 times during his tenure in the Illinois State Senate?
2 comments:
I think a reasonable person would look for the track record of economic sanctions in deterring nuclear development.
The track record is wretched.
The most intelligent pro-sanction article I could come up with is this research paper that basically shows how ineffective sanctions been historically but shows how since 2001 our country and the UN have learned a lot about how to utilize sanctions so the author is hopeful for the use of sanctions in the future:
http://transatlantic.sais-jhu.edu/pacer_homelandsecurity/PACER_oudraat_1.pdf
I found this response to the whole situation that was written a couple of years ago to provide a useful framework to respond to threat of Iran coming up with nuclear weaponry:
http://www.army.mil/professionalwriting/volumes/volume5/december_2007/12_07_3.html
I think Peter is spot on that Obama is being "stunningly naive". I'm perplexed how someone with access to information and advisement such as he has would think economic sanctions are going to provide the answer.
Thanks Tracy. I trust him about as far as I could throw him.
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