Middle East Focus: Human Rights: U.S. Senate to Blacklist Leaders of Iran and Saudi Arabia and Bahrain?……

Arabia Deserta

Human Rights: U.S. Senate to Blacklist Leaders of Iran and Saudi Arabia and Bahrain?……

Rattlesnake Ridge

BFF

“Lawmakers are considering a bid to force President Barack Obama's administration to blacklist Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in an effort to thwart Tehran's nuclear capabilities, a congressional aide said on Wednesday. The new measure under consideration would designate the Iranian leaders as human rights abusers and freeze whatever assets they have in the United States as well as deny them visas needed to enter the country, the aide said. The Senate Banking Committee could decide as soon as Thursday on whether to include the provision in a broad package of sanctions aimed at curtailing Iran's access to oil revenue, which the West says is being used to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is aimed at developing technologies for peaceful purposes…………”

"....designate the Iranian leaders as human rights abusers": do you know what that means, what it implies? Given that the U.S. Senate is consistent even in a tough election year, next they will have other Middle East human rights abusers targeted. That means the mothers of all human rights abusers: the Saudi princes, and the apartheid regime of Bahrain, among others.

Blacklisting Ahmadinejad and Khamenei is fine, it is better than blacklisting the whole Iranian people, which is happening now. I am always for blacklisting all Middle East leaders (Iranian, Arab, or Israeli): in fact most of them ought too be tarred and feathered. But blacklisting these two worthies from what? They are not likely to want to come to Orlando or Las Vegas any time soon (they are probably not the fun-loving nor the betting types). These two also have not acquired huge personal fortunes in overseas banks that can be blocked (there last names don't end with, say al-Saud), as far as we know.

The Senate Banking Committee has been spending a lot of time and efforts on tightening the screws on Iran, mainly on the Iranian people. It has been trying creative ways to deny them access to their own natural and financial resources, essentially trying to starve them, with the active connivance of the Obama administration.
If the senators had spent a small fraction of that effort and the time on safeguarding (and re-REGULATING) the U.S. banking and financial system, there may not have been the great crash of 2008 nor the deep recession that still engulfs the United States and much of the world. But then, many of these senators would not have received the usual campaign contributions nor the golden retirement positions many of them get from grateful financial corporations.
Cheers
mhg

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com