Huge risks in Iran sanctions
CNN / Hamid Dabashi
06-Aug-2009 (7 comments)

Contrary to the vision and wisdom of the president, the political machinations of the U.S. Congress and the flawed advice offered by this group of panelists amount to a belligerent threat against the regime. That will exacerbate its self-righteous warring posture and have chilling consequences for the grass-roots civil rights movement inside Iran.

>>>
Asghar_Massombagi

Sanctions: pretext for war?

by Asghar_Massombagi on

Further "crippling sanctions" will be a god send to Khamenei-Ahamdinejad and their backers and provide pretext for even harsher repression of dissent, not to mention further misery for the Iranian people.


Share/Save/Bookmark

 
Fred

Rhetorical

by Fred on

Since it seems the “us” are asking rhetorical questions and mix issues at the same time, it is best to leave the "us"  to discuss it among themselves.  


Asghar_Massombagi

It's still a fairy tale

by Asghar_Massombagi on

Who will impose this fantastic scenario that you are describing?  The EU, the United States, China, the UN?  What's in it for them?  And how long will this misery last?  Nay gurantee that regime will be gone in one, two, five, ten years?  They survived the 8 year war, remember?  And wasn't Reagan and even Isreal that partially chipped in to help?  Strange bed fellows, right?  It's all good and nice to be tough behind a keyboard, but where is the beef?  Could you give us any presedence for this?  Saddam was under sever sanctions for 10 years and at the end Bush had send in the troops.  Get real, they're already congratulating AN on his "second" term. They're lining up for raw oil and gas.  I wish for total and unconditional world peace and global brotherhood NOW.  Any suggestions?


Fred

The recipe for war

by Fred on

Having a feeling” is fine but in the meantime real people are having different kinds of feelings at the hands of the Islamist cutthroats republic.

Airtight sanctions mean just that, airtight, no banking and rerouting of banking which forces the regime to have every thing done in cash. No cargo insurance, no visas to the regime officials, etc..

And that line about sanctions is prelude to war is passé, it is the other way around. Absent total and unrelenting material and moral support to the brave Iranians and doing business as usual with the regime is the recipe for war.


Asghar_Massombagi

Define airtight

by Asghar_Massombagi on

Airtight sanctions are a fairy tale.  Even if one accepts the premise that the US has the right to set agenda internationally as it wishes, the only end point to this is war.  Of course Obama & Co have to convince China and Russia and all the middle men who are going to get stinking rich from further sanctions on Iran first.  If the sanctions are designed to incite further uprising then it will not work. It will only consolidate the regime.  Iranians have a large capacity to live in misery; they will trudge along.   But if the point is to send in the troops at some point a la Iraq then fine, sanctions will be a good start.  By the way, I'm not letting the regime off the hook here. They are also responsible for the mess.  Provoking Isreal with nonsense about the holocaust is in no way in the national interest of Iran.  I have a feeling however that the regime will come around on the nuclear issue.


Fred

Airtight sanctions

by Fred on

It seems the uber-lefty Dabashi is not only as usual talking nonsense; his main agenda is to get back at the panel testifying at House Foreign Affairs Committee for not inviting him. One wonders what special qualifications he brings forth to consider the three panelist as having “a very thin and dubious claim on scholarship on Iran”.

Regardless of what the uber-lefty says, or his repackaging of the regime inspired talking point, i.e. returning the nuke file to IAEA, all three panelists were formerly of lets cut a deal opinion and like many others are slowly seeing the light.

To avoid a disastrous, unwanted war, total airtight sanctions are the only way to hasten the fall/overthrow of the Islamist cutthroats republic.


Darius Kadivar

I Found the Last sentence VERY Enlightening ... ;0)

by Darius Kadivar on

"The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Hamid Dabashi."

THAT in itself Say's it all !

LOL