Thursday June 10, 2010

I've Been Thinking:

The UN Security Council passed its fourth round of sanctions against Iran.

That Russia and China voted in favor of the sanctions is a huge success for the United States. It was Brazil and Turkey who voted against sanctions while Lebanon abstained.

Yesterday, on the very day that the vote took place, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said that he has never seen a sanctions program that worked. He cited North Korea as an example saying sanctions have not stopped North Korean from furthering their nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad has said that Russian should think hard about siding with Iran's enemies. Iran has also said that sanctions will have no impact on them. His exact quote about sanctions is that "they are not worth one cent."

The weakness of these sanctions is clear, they do not crack down on either Iranian international banking or trade. That means that Russia can still sell and deliver their highly advanced S-300 missile system to Iran without violating the sanction.

Putin knows what he is talking about.

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