The three (many media outlets reported four, but it's essentially three; see below) largely meaningless sanctions imposed today by the UN Security Council against Iran highlight the tremendous loss of U.S. power and influence that has occurred thanks to the Bush Junta. Even in 2003, before invading Iraq, we were able to get a resolution warning of "serious consequences" if Iraq did not do as we wished. Even then, we could not get any sort of authorization for military action, though. Contrast with Serbia, 1999 and of course Gulf War I in 1991. Back in those days, we were able to get actual authorization to send in multinational contingents of troops. Now we get, essentially, three utterly meaningless sanctions.
Here's the text of the Resolution.
Jump over the fold for the implications.
The three new sanctions are summarized thusly:
- Iran can't deal arms. This one does not hurt Iran in the least. Any arms dealing currently engaged in by Iran is mostly of an illicit nature. It's not like the world is lining up to buy the latest ultra-high-tech Iranian weaponry. In 2004, the U.S. accounted for 63.2 percent of global arms exports, and Europe accounted for 30.5 percent. That gives the rest of the world, including China, a whopping 6.3 percent to share amongst them. You can see why the U.S. might consider this a significant victory, given that arms exports are such a big industry for us, but it is highly unlikely to stem the tide of booby traps and light weaponry flowing to Hezbolla and Moqtada al Sadr. Halliburton's bazaar in Dubai will hardly notice the loss of the Iranian vendors.
By the way, this "arms embargo" goes both ways according to the resolution: All States are also called upon "to exercise vigilance and restraint" in selling weapons to Iran. Talk about toothless! I'm sure the Russians will be very vigilant about fulfilling that next Sunburn order.
Sanctioning Iranian energy exports would have been a strong sanction. This is a joke.
- A few individuals had their international assets frozen and their movement, perhaps, crimped. Big deal. How much did these guys keep in Bank of America under their own names, anyway? Any fish of any size would have a highly secretive numbered account in Switzerland that will not be affected in any way -- and a second passport under a different name.
- "Calls upon all States and international financial institutions not to enter into new commitments for grants, financial assistance, and concessional loans, to the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, except for humanitarian and developmental purposes;"
Oh, gee, so Iran won't be able to take out any of those oh-so-favorable IMF loans? That must be a real slap in the face to such a poor country that has nothing except the multiple billions of dollars in energy it exports every single week.
And that "humanitarian and development" thing opens up a gaping loophole as well.
Utterly. Pathetically. Weak.
God help us if we actually try to fight a war against Iran. Weak, degraded Iraq has ground down our ground forces. Iran has the capability to do the same to our Navy and Air Force. This must not happen.