Obama Won’t Intervene in Syria, Iran
Without UN backing, the Obama administration backed down regarding Syria and — as Scoblete says, ‘absent some dramatic event’ — it is likely that the US president will do the same when it comes to attacking Iran.
Downplaying the Holocaust?
Peter Goodspeed’s new article in the National Post is an interesting one that begins with the various creative things that Iran could do if the country was able to produce a nuclear warhead. Naturally, Goodspeed includes all the continuously repeated disaster scenarios that would ‘inevitably’ result in the destruction of Israel, including a fantastic comparison of Iranian … Read more
The Saudi Arms Deal: A Win-Win-Win?
The proposed arms deal between Saudi Arabia and the United States is shaping up to be the largest in US history, totally somewhere around $60 billion. Many are looking at this deal as a three-pronged victory for the Obama administration; the deal would create American jobs, providing concrete assurances to the Saudis that they do … Read more
Iran and the Problem of Sanctions, Con’t
Fresh off of commenting on the unproductive sanctions on Iran, I was directed to two articles on the subject (thank you Mr. Dunn!). Both articles are worth reading and, thankfully, escape the tired soap-box aggressive rhetoric found in far too many pieces on Iran in the West. The first article highlights the inability of sanctions … Read more
Iran and the Problem with Sanctions
A few months back, Lara Friedman wrote a piece for Foreign Policy concerning the sanctions that were going to be slapped on Iran as punishment for the nuclear program. In the article she quoted of colleague of hers saying, “Sanctions are the sign of a failed policy, period.” A while later I wrote a post … Read more
The Odd Triplets: Turkey, Israel and the US
After the stunning movie-like commando take over of the ‘Freedom Flotilla’ aid ships on Sunday by Israel – a blunder that resulted in somewhere between 10-20 deaths of activists and up to 60 injured – Turkey has been leading the charge in condemning Israel. Obviously, the Turkish government has reason to be upset – the … Read more
What is the US Trying to Do with Iran?
It is hard to determine the actual American policy towards Iran and the Iranian nuclear threat. After Turkey and Brazil finally brokered a deal with Iran requiring the latter to ship 1,200 kg of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to a third country, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkeish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan thought … Read more
Iran Nuclear Round-Up
There have been a lot of words written about the nuclear deal with Iran negotiated by Brazil and Turkey. The deal is essentially the same as was brokered between the Persians and the Quartet (US, EU, Russia and the UN) last fall (Iran backed out). Thus, the deal with Iran is an accomplishment. Unfortunately (for … Read more
Why Does Brazil Ruin Everything
They have football. Isn’t that enough? Now they want politics too? Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is currently in Tehran where it is being reported that he – along with representatives from Turkey – have struck a deal to send 1,200 kg of low-enriched uranium to Turkey for transformation into fuel. Last week, … Read more
Is The IAEA Targeting Israel?
After the five permanent members of the UN Security Council endorsed the idea of a re-energized attempt to implement the 1995 initiative to create a nuclear free Middle East – understandably raising questions about Israel’s nuclear arsenal – the world seems to suddenly be paying a little more attention to the Israel’s nuclear capabilities. Though … Read more
Chris Keeler
Chris Whitman
