Sanction(s)

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Fred
by Fred
11-Oct-2009
 

It has become an article of faith among some to classify economic sanctions as a variation of hot war. Some even get technical and refer to sanctions as prelude to a hot war. And many identify sanction as a useless foreign policy tool which has never worked. Needless to say nothing could be further from the truth.

Believe it or not sanction(s) is an everyday tool of international statecraft; states try to resolve their disputes, mostly economic, through lengthy bilateral and multilateral negotiation, once that does not resolve the issue to their satisfaction one of the first tools they reach for is sanction.  In fact were it not for economic sanctions the world would have witnessed hot wars in all places at all times, that it has not been the case is a testament to the utility of sanction.

People do practice sanction in their individual daily lives too. Every time a conveniently located store is bypassed due to bad prior service, that store is being sanctioned. Or when a child’s allowance/T.V. time is temporarily cut to teach him there are consequences to bad behavior, that child is being sanctioned.  Here is how Cambridge dictionary defines sanction:

“sanction noun (ORDER) /ˈsæŋk.ʃən/ n • [C usually plural] an official order, such as the stopping of trade, which is taken against a country in order to make it obey international law.

 Many nations have imposed sanctions on the country because of its attacks on its own people.Trade/economic sanctions will only be lifted (= stopped) when the aggressor nation withdraws its troops.•

 [C] a strong action taken in order to make people obey a law or rule, or a punishment given when they do not obey Without realistic sanctions, some teachers have difficulty keeping order in the classroom.”

By now there should be little doubt about the IRR, the Islamist Rapist Republic attacking its own people. For thirty years it has and for the past three months the world has been witness to it in vivid colors on their T.V. screens. They saw how IRR rooftop sharpshooters randomly picked off peaceful demonstrators for the crime of asking for accountability by IRR. They saw heads smashed, bones being broken and people being violently set upon by roaming armed packs of official Islamist thugs. They also got to see and hear from many rape victims of the IRR’s many detention centers.

That the IRR was found out to be illegally and secretly developing its full cycle dual purpose nuke program with strong indications of it having military application as the ultimate goal is just one additional reason for the sane world to impose airtight sanctions.

Before it is too late and IRR imposes a devastating war on the enslaved Iranian nation and the entire volatile region,  the sane world has to impose airtight sanctions and at the same time openly help Iranians with material and moral support to rid the world of this clear and present danger.

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more from Fred
 
Fred

Grandpa Islamist

by Fred on

After reading your personal attacks which would make any one of your Islamist lout brethrens blush with envy ( I know lout & Islamist are synonymous) let me leave it at wishing you lots of Islamist geriatric ward free restful days grandpa Islamist.

Don’t forget to drink your prune juice and take more Islamist wedding photos.

And there you go with that plural pronoun "we" again. Grandpa Islamist you count as one Islamist, when there are two of you Islamists then you can use "we".


Q

Considering (smart) Sanctions killed 500,000 Children in Iraq,

by Q on

//www.commondreams.org/headlines/072100-03.ht...

and they didn't prevent an even bloodier war.

and those were of the most "airtight" variety,

and the utter defeat of sanctions policies in North Korea, Cuba and fmr. Yugoslavia,

we can only conclude 2 things:

1. the author is an ignoramous beyond belief.
2. the author is simply lying to get support for a certain policy which has proven to have enormous profits for certain sectors and countries.

Given his sordid solipsism, formiddable fakery, and dogged dogmatism combined with a general sense of being "Johny on the spot" with AIPAC talking points, one has to really rule out -as tempting as it is-, possiblity number 1.

Everyone knowns Sanctions benefit the government, since they will give it license to control every aspect of society and make it easy for the most isolationist elements to defeat their rivals inside of IRI.

Sanctions can never hurt the government more than the people. The proof is simple: any member of the IRI can pretend to be an ordinary citizen and circumvent the sanctions (supposedly only targeting the government). So in order for them to "target" the government, they have to target the people.

Of course, some don't have a problem with this. You see they have already decided the "price is worth it", so why should the people of Iran be brought into the equation?

Sanctions will never work. They just make a lot of people suffer in the process. For them to actually do what they claim, a military enforcement is necessary which leads to war. That's why the latest incarnation of neoconservative war mongers want sanctions.

Now have fun making lame personal attacks since you have no real answers, Fred.


vildemose

Also, I haven't read Arvand

by vildemose on

Also, I haven't read Arvand Abrahimian's book yet but there are such things in Scientific method analysis as Consistency, Reliability and Validity of your research. How did Mr. Arbrahamian arrive to such a conclusion? Did his comparative analysis of the IRI and the Shah's regime include statistics from pre-Pahlavi's regimes? His research will not have any external or internal validity if he has not done that.


vildemose

Amir1973: I don't know if

by vildemose on

Amir1973: I don't know if Hass is an IRI agent or not but I have seen him on other sites like Huffington Post, Dailykos, etc expressing his blind support for the Islmaic Republic in a way that an official or an agent provoceauteur does. I think he is not Iranian. He could be Lebanese or Palestinian.


benross

Bang on Amir. I'm currently

by benross on

Bang on Amir. I'm currently reading Abrahamian works and I'm impressed by the quality of his research, but he is clearly of Iranian left tradition, which on one hand provided him a very useful perspective, but on the other hand it is packaged in a way that can conveniently be used in such abusive manner.

Abrahamian could stop such abusive use of his research but it doesn't seem to bother him. 


AMIR1973

Is hass an IRI propagandist?

by AMIR1973 on

Since hass likes to cut-and-paste from Ervand Abrahamian's article on Monthly Review, he may wish to take the following into account:   Since 1979, the IRI has killed well over 15,000 Iranians (a conservative estimate). In his book “Tortured Confessions”, Abrahamian cites a Mojahedin “martyrs’ list” that includes 12,028 killed between June 1981 and June 1985 (74% through executions, 22% in armed confrontations, and 4% under torture). The list does not include the 128 Bahais, 9 Jews, and 32 Tudeh and Majority Fadayis executed during that period. Nor does it include the thousands executed from 1979 to June 1981 or from June 1985 till the present day (particularly the several thousand executed in 1988).   The IRI sits on some of the largest oil and natural gas deposits in the world. So its built some infrastructure. Wow, very impressive! So did Reza Pahlavi and so did his son. Are you denying that the Iranian standard of living was much higher in 1979 than in 1925 when the Pahlavis came to power (and no, I'm not a supporter of the monarchy). What's more remarkable is that Iranian per capita wealth (corrected for inflation) has not risen in 3 decades (and by some estimates, has fallen by one-third)! The family planning stategy started under the Pahlavis, as did the plans for the Tehran metro (though the revolution cut those plans short). I find funny that they decry Pahlavi military spending, since that military hardware provided the core of Iran's defenses during the Iran-Iraq war! The notion that Iran has no squalor would surprise any visitor to Iran, who has to contend with children and elderly people begging in the streets. I saw numerous children begging, selling chewing gum, and laminated cards with prayers from the Quran, as well as children sleeping on the streets at night. I invite any person visiting Iran to see these things for themselves rather than reading the views of Leninists and their present-day Islamist fellow travelers who write for Western periodicals. Are these signs of squalor or just the progressive populist-socialist features of the Democratic People's Islamic Republic of Iran?

hass

Iranians better off under IRI than ever before

by hass on

Fact of the matter is that Iranians are now better educated than before, have far better access to clean water and electricity and medical care, and their kids are far more likely to live longer, healthier lives.

Professor Abrahamian noted this:

In the three decades since the revolution, the Islamic Republic—despite its poor image abroad—has taken significant steps toward fulfilling these promises. It has done so by giving priority to social rather than military expenditures, and thus dramatically expanding the Ministries of Education, Health, Agriculture, Labor, Housing, Welfare and Social Security. The military consumed as much as 18 percent of the gross domestic product in the last years of the shah. Now it takes up as little as 4 percent...

In three decades the regime has come close to eliminating illiteracy among the post-revolutionary generations, reducing the overall rate from 53 percent to 15 percent.[1] The rate among women has fallen from 65 percent to 20 percent. The state has increased the number of students enrolled in primary schools from 4,768,000 to 5,700,000, in secondary schools from 2.1 million to over 7.6 million, in technical schools from 201,000 to 509,000, and in universities from 154,000 to over 1.5 million. The percentage of women in university student populations has gone up from 30 percent to 62 percent. Thanks to medical clinics, life expectancy at birth has increased from 56 to 70, and infant mortality has decreased from 104 to 25 per 1,000. Also thanks to medical clinics, the birth rate has fallen from an all-time high of 3.2 to 2.1, and the fertility rate—the average number of children born to a woman in her lifetime—from 7 to 3. It is expected to fall further to 2 by 2012—in other words, Iran in the near future will achieve near zero population growth....

The Islamic Republic has bridged the chasm between urban and rural life in part by raising the prices of agricultural goods relative to other commodities and in part by introducing schools, medical clinics, roads, electricity and piped water into the countryside. For the first time ever, villagers can afford consumer goods, even motorbikes and pickup trucks. According to one economist who, on the whole, is critical of the regime, 80 percent of rural households own refrigerators, 77 percent televisions and 76 percent gas stoves. Some 220,000 peasant families, moreover, have received 850,000 hectares of land confiscated from the old elite. They, together with the some 660,000 families who had obtained land under the earlier White Revolution, form a substantial rural class that has benefited not only from these new social services but also from state-subsidized cooperatives and protective tariff walls. This class provides the regime with a rural social base.

The regime has also tackled problems of the urban poor. It has replaced slums with low-income housing, beautified the worst districts and extended electricity, water and sewage lines to working-class districts. As an American journalist highly critical of the regime’s economic policies admits, “Iran has become a modern country with few visible signs of squalor." What is more, it has supplemented the income of the underclass—both rural and urban—by generously subsidizing bread, fuel, gas, heat, electricity, medicines and public transport. The regime may not have eradicated poverty nor appreciatively narrowed the gap between rich and poor but it has provided the underclass with a safety net. In the words of the same independent-minded economist, “Poverty has declined to an enviable level for middle-income developing countries.”


Ahura

IRI Nightmare

by Ahura on

The Islamic Republic of Iran has demonstrated to be a religious dictatorship imposed on Iranians. IRI has been antagonistic to our pre-Islamic heritage,  has violated the civil and human rights of the citizens, has subjugated Iranians to antiquated Sharia laws, has supported domestic and international terrorism, and has kept its stranglehold over Iranians by force and criminal means. Given these verities any measure that weakens the position of IRI internationally and nationally is to be supported. The ruthless dictators of IRI have no regards for International Laws and Human Rights and practice deception and fraud religiously. Fear and force are deeply engrained in their psyche, in their religious teachings, in their laws and practices, and in their statesmanship.  They only pay attention to fear and force,  something that they understand. It is prime time to give them their own medicine.

The domestic Iranian opposition groups do need any and all supports in their effort to overthrow this armed and ruthless dictatorship. Sanctions will work to cut off the resources of the rulers in subjugating the people and throw the already weakened regime into an unmanageable crisis.  Strikes, civil disobedience, and revolt by Iranians will follow and pave the way for a democratic republic of Iran.

The hardship caused on Iranians due to sanctions is miniscule compared to their sufferings of the passed thirty years. The damages done to Iran by IRI in the form of institutionalizing ignorance, prejudice, and violence is immense.

Fred, I have been following your commentaries and see you as a patriotic person who cares for the welfare of Iranians. Thanks for your contributions and efforts to free Iran from the nightmare of IRI.


hass

Iranian first

by hass on

Ummm, Fred? Iran's nuclear program started under the Shah, not the Mollahs. And, the people of Iran massively support their nuclear program, regardless of what they may think of the regime. We're Iranians first.  You Israelis don't seem to realize that.


Ostaad

Guys,

by Ostaad on

You are not treating Fred with the kind of kid gloves that he deserves. You are asking him questions that are not found on his AIPAC-provided sheet music.

Please stop confusing him!

masoudA, did you say, "we as Iranians??!!! Stop pulling my leg, homie. I bet you and Fred, cannot stop caring about the plight of the Iranian people for a nano-second. Is that why you want to squeeze them and stab them in the back even more?


Javadagha

Musings of Fred's non-sense . . .

by Javadagha on

Musings of Fred's non-sense and lies over and over;

As Ostaad correctly mentioned, Fred, khar wa sagh khodeti. 

You think people are stupid and cannot see what you or AIPAC are lying about?

What amazes me is how iranian.com give you space to utter your non-sense restlessly.

 


vildemose

Fred: Do you agree that

by vildemose on

Fred: Do you agree that sanctions will only benefit the IRGC or not?


MOOSIRvaPIAZ

Lets set aside the morality aspect...

by MOOSIRvaPIAZ on

"Before it is too late and IRR imposes a devastating war on the enslaved Iranian nation and the entire volatile region,  the
sane world has to impose airtight sanctions and at the same time openly
help Iranians with material and moral support to rid the world of this
clear and present danger."

 

This kind of faith based analysis is the reason we are in this mess to begin with. Simply put, you are just "hoping" that by putting "airtight" sanctions this regime will go in a short period of time. 

 

what is it with neoconservative ideolgy and their magic wang of foreign policy ideas? They think by simply wishing it so everything will be fine and the world will be saved.

Your arguments are bankrupt Fred.

 

 Again, I'll repeat what I said before, the best way to destabilize a ponderous, oppressive government such as Iran's is to ensure the growth of a strong middle class in the target country with an educated and politically active youth. Sanctions tend to do the opposite by denying (or reducing) a country's access to trade, economic growth, pharmaceuticals and health benefits, knowledge and innovation. It stigmatizes countries' populations against the world, which often entrenches hard-line governments with staunch supporters. Sanctions also reduce positive effect of the global community's political feedback: if a country is already a pariah, their leaders have little incentive to conform to accepted norms (e.g. human rights).


vildemose

Interview with Salehi on

by vildemose on

Interview with Salehi on Iran's nuclear program

With the appointment of Ali Akbar Salehi as the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, I thought it would be a good idea to review and excerpt of an interview he did for the Financial Times in 2004, which explains many of the issues in the US-Iran standoff.

[In the interview, Salehi said that during a meeting held at Columbia University and chaired by Dr Gary Sick, a former State Department official stated that No matter how many times Iran signs the additional protocol, we will keep up our pressure until Iran yields to a political détente.’ I just wanted to point out that Gary Sick as confirmed this as being true.] 

//www.iranaffairs.com/iran_affairs/2009/07/irans-nuclear-programme-is-peaceful--september-9-2004-----the-board-of-the-international-atomic-energy-agency-iaea.html

Who is this Cyrus Safdari?


masoudA

Good Article Fred

by masoudA on

But we as Iranians must get into more details about sanctions - we must play a major role to ID the type of sanctions would be directly targeting the IRI/IRR.  As you may know the sanction have already started - Bush did very well by placing "Pasdaran" on the list of world terrorists, a measure which has devastated their international operations - except in places like Venezuela, Sudan, etc...

Os-Dad,  where are your other 2 amigos?  Keep this up and I am sure the mullahs will grant you your own hour of stand-up comedy show on IRIB - every evening right after Azan Maghreb.


Ostaad

Fred, must have just received the new sheet music from

by Ostaad on

AIPAC. The new song his titled, "How to Sugarcoat the Poison Pill and Shove It Sown the Iranian People's Throats!".

Fred, obviously as choir boy in the amen corner you sure are doing your best to follow the script, but this time you are trying new tricks to stick it to the Iranian people the best you can.

The "air tight sanctions" you are talking about, notwithstanding all your sanitized definitions and out of context descriptions, are designed to be daggers in the backs of the Iranian middle/working class people.

You are not even half as honest as those enemies of Iran, who happen to be far less slimy and duplicitous than you, to use their term that is, "debilitating sanctions". Air tight sanctions simply don't exist, any moron knows that, and so should you.

In summary, khar khodeti.