Posted on 03/05/2010 4:44:22 PM PST by Kaslin
Diplomacy: Is the Obama team so desperate to claim it got a sanctions deal on Iran that it's offering the same carve-outs it did with Congress on health care? That's what a new plan looks like. And it won't work.
In what must be one of its worst ideas ever, the Obama administration is pressuring Congress to exempt China from any sanctions in the U.S. if it continues business as usual with Iran.
The aim, of course, is to get China's vote in the United Nations Security Council for a package of global sanctions on Iran for its illegal program to build nuclear weapons. Anyone else trading with Iran would lose access to the U.S. market. But China would be exempt through this sweetener. It's pretty much the same approach Senate Democratic leaders took when they exempted unions from taxes on health insurance plans to ensure union support for the health care bill. But this U.N. move has special consequences.
If China does not sanction Iran the same as other nations, then sanctions are meaningless. China is a leading trading partner of Iran's and depends on Iran for 11% of its oil.
Instead of finding an alternative source of oil for China, the administration is taking an easy way out, opting for form over substance.
Not only will Iran ignore global pressure to drop its nuclear program if it can continue to trade with China, there will be nasty blowback for the U.S. from other countries around the world.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
Obama is well in to his second year in office and it is still amateur hour in the White House.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.