Financial Times and Iran, the Urgency of Midterm Elections, Where Now is Never……………..
“The guiding principles in dealing with Iran are: first, forge a phalanx of unity at international level; and second, make sure your policy discriminates between the regime and Iranian citizens – whose tolerance of the Islamic Republic has reached breaking point after last summer’s imposed election result and its bloody aftermath. Do the new sanctions pass either test? Recent history shows that sanctions imposed by the US – with purported extraterritorial reach that can force its allies to rein in their corporations – do not really work. Furthermore, they hugely annoy America’s friends. This is not the time for that…………. The panoply of sanctions against Iran probably means it foregoes roughly a quarter of its potential national output; it needs to invest around $150bn to upgrade its oil industry in the next decade. But denying Iran petrol – the target of the US Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act – is a crude response. It is not just scattergun but unilateral and extraterritorial – when the imperatives are international unity, and to widen the growing gap between the regime and the people, not close it. So many Iranians, with such enormous courage, have directed their fury at the heart of this theocracy built more on material than on spiritual interests. It would be a disaster if the regime could deflect that outwards at the external foes it depends on to corral its people. What is needed are measures such as successful US-initiated sanctions on financial transactions and individuals that target all the players in the regime, and command not just the support of the US and its allies but Russia and China and theirs. And Iranians…….” Financial times
Clearly the Financial Times does not appreciate the importance of US Congressional midterm elections; the urgency of next year which is reflected into the urgency of now. The same urgency does not apply when mundane things like health care or education are the issue, especially in the Senate. In the latter case, especially for the Senate, now can be never.
Wouldn’t it be interesting if the Republicans, in their permanent cruise control “No” mode, vote down Iran sanctions? Just out of habit: they are applying “No” to everything else.
Cheers and Happy Holidays
mhg
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