IRAN - Still #1

Plenty of domestic action lately folks and it’s been fun; however, best to keep our eye on ball #1 - Iran.

We began our blogging following the Iranian mullah-thugs, 4 years ago. It’s been frustrating. Not sure the WH has looked at any of this stuff. We’re not insulted, only disappointed.

A few years back, we took on the Fed. We got ourselves squarely in front of Congress. Greenspan and the rest had something to say too on that day in Oct, 1993. Greenspan’s problem was that he failed to notice Anna Schwartz and I, a row behind him. He learned to regret it. He and the rest changed their less-than-savory behavior soon after.

Well, that was then. We don’t seem to be able to get the big-wig’s attention anymore. Still, we’ll continue to make plenty of noise, hoping someone comes to understand before it’s too late.

Obama has shed so many chances, God-given really. We, the US, could have been the friend of liberty in Iran, just as we were in 1953 when we and the UK saved these guys from Soviet domination. But nothing. Such a brave bunch, these protestors. BO has not so much as given them used pc’s to bolster communication among the ranks.

So-called sanctions to date are gutless. A joke. Netanyahu zeroed in on the heart of the matter, "What’s needed are crippling sanctions against this Iranian tyranny." Nothing we have applied so far can even be described as hurtful. Hillary this week said sanctions must target Iran's Revolutionary Guard "without contributing to the suffering of the ordinary [Iranians], who deserve better than what they currently are receiving." That won't work.

Thus, we now face the reality of an Israeli strike. This means "uncontrolled chaos" in that region, Iran’s attempt to close the straits, $5+/gal gas at home.

Our solution, the very best we feel, and, one endorsed by most of Congress, simply not BO - an embargo of refined gasoline imports to Iran - controlled chaos. Most observers know that such a step would put the mullahs flatly on their backs. To regain traction, the masses would throw this bunch out on the street. We would assist in the formation of a truly democratic, law abiding government. Prosperity and the rule of law would soon follow.

Naturally China and Russia are not keen on such a move, both looking to make a buck or two instead. Our allies own more of a moral sense that these two, and would suppprt us. So what we need is a president who, through some miracle, suddenly comes to understand that his job is to look to the interests of the United States and the West.

But the Iranians know their man in Obama and they are acting accordingly.

Recall world events prior to 1943. These were years of serial appeasement of Hitler, the near-disarmament of Western democracies, and, flirtations with pacifism. This sent a global message: the West was unable to meet the challenge of totalitarianism. So dictators called their bluff. The result - WWII.

Now, events are unfolding just as expected. In 2009, the United States gave Iran at least four deadlines to stop its nuclear program. All were ignored. Vic Hansen asks the question, "Does an emboldened theocracy believe this now is the year to become nuclear and change the entire strategic makeup of the Middle East?"

Yes.

Robert Craven