Tikun Olam-תיקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place

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6 Responses to “Obama Administration Singing the Same Old Tune: Sanctions Can Work”

1. Rafi says:

   January 3, 2010 at 2:05 AM

   ” back off. Don’t do anything. Let events in Iran take their course. Hope the reform movement eventually gets the upper hand. Do what you can to help make that happen by laying off and making strong statements supporting human rights in that country.”

   there is the chance that after the reform movement prevails, the current foreign policy and nuclear policy will continue, Sahimi said in your event as much, no? talking about a Japan like situation where a nuke is a few screw drives away, Israel’s (and the U.S. according to Obama’s strategists) main concerns are with that, and not the internal strife and human rights, harsh, but so is life.

   “The problem with sanctions is that they are a policy which provides no climb-down mode for Iran. ”

   Hoping for the best and just making statements provides a climb-down? they can backfire as surely as sanctions or military strikes against the nuclear sites.

   “

   Reply
   • Richard Silverstein says:

     January 3, 2010 at 5:15 PM

     No, Sahimi didn’t say precisely that. He said that every Iranian wants to pursue nuclear research as a matter of national pride. But not every Iranian wants a bomb. He said that the reform movement was more likely to come to an understanding with the west on enrichment. But he didn’t say they’d be a pushover or that they’d end enrichment.

     Reply
     • Rafi says:

       January 3, 2010 at 11:20 PM

       So maybe it was Lustick who you described in your event post as saying:

       “In fact, the reformers are the ones who are taking a harder line than Ahmadinejad regarding the nuclear talks with the west. So if we really support the former and want them to succeed, we have to recognize the possibility that the nuclear debate is a secondary issue to the more important question of who will control Iran in the long-term.”

       Or maybe this is your take, in any case, that contradicts Sahimi’s take that “the reform movement was more likely to come to an understanding with the west on enrichment”.

       Reply
2. Gene Schulman says:

   January 3, 2010 at 3:29 AM

   Ah, poor Rafi continues to gurgle on without contributing anything of value to the debate.

   Barry, Hillary, Dennis and the rest of the Lobby are in control. Iran is in Israel’s cross hairs, and it won’t be long before the trigger is pulled. The demonstrations are merely prelude to a tragedy foretold.

   Reply
3. Ashley kennedy says:

   January 3, 2010 at 12:00 PM

   Do sanctions work?

   pros
   South Africa; However there was already a large section of South African society adversely effected by Apartheid.

   cons
   Cuba, North Korea, Iraq, Gaza

   Sanctions don’t work, even for those that think that sanctions are an option. All Obama’s talk of sanctions is therefore, as Richard states, for internal US consumption.

   Reply
4. Christopher is a Lying Scumbag | Tikun Olam-תקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place says:

   January 5, 2010 at 12:39 AM

   [...] of garbage piece he’s just published at Slate?  Here he’s connecting the N.Y. Times piece of shoddy journalism–which posited that selected Iran hawks in the Administration have stopped believing in the [...]

   Reply