Appeasement, standing up for yourself. The New York Sun

Iran, nuclear weapon development, sanctions.  It is a tough pill to swallow.  What will come from the announced agreement?

One thing I am sure of is the editor of the New York Sun gets it right when he says that appeasement fails.

Read the full editorial, Esther 4:14 - The New York Sun

Feeding at the Iranian business trough, the French get in line as sanctions end

A headline in today's Times of Israel announces -

France preparing to resume business with Iran

Foreign minister will reportedly travel to Tehran quickly if accord signed; 100 companies plan September delegation

So, here we go.  Many years ago I wrote about the weakness in sanctions when they are not universally followed.  I accused countries such as Italy for lining up at the Iranian business trough and feeding as if there was no tomorrow.  Every dollar spent buying Iranian goods and products, mostly oil, went into the coffers of a government bent on destruction.


If the French think they are immune from Iranian sponsored terrorism, they are mistaken.  To add insult to their future injury, think about it, French francs flowing to Iran will be paying for the deaths of Frenchmen.


That's what I think.


You can read the full article here.

Europe sanctions Assad

Last week I mentioned that American economic sanctions against Syrian President Bashar Assad will be meaningless unless European countries followed suit.

The New York Times reported this morning, May 23, 2011, that the European Union has imposed sanctions.

The 27-nation bloc instituted an assets freeze and a visa ban on Assad and nine other members of his regime.

Let's see what happens when Assad is deprived of access to his cash in European banks.

Assad and the sanctions, shmanctions

Reading the news about the imposition of financial sanctions on Syria President X, I just had to check the OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL - SPECIALLY DESIGNATED NATIONALS & BLOCKED PERSONS and there was his name on page 20 -

AL ASSAD, Bashar Hafez (a.k.a. AL-ASAD,
Bashar; a.k.a. AL-ASSAD, Bashar; a.k.a.
ASSAD, Bashar); DOB 11 Sep 1965; POB
Damascus, Syria; President of the Syrian Arab
Republic (individual) [SYRIA]

According to the New York Times story,.

The sanctions against Syria reflected mounting American frustration that Mr. Assad’s government was ignoring international condemnation by not pursuing a peaceful resolution to the popular uprising that has swept the country since March.

Well, "gee whiz, Phil," what's going on here? Is the Obama administration going to pressure the Europeans to impose sanctions, too? As the Times reports, the Europeans are considering it.

Now remember, we're the same country that has found it increasingly difficult to isolate Iran through the use of sanctions that are primarily American in nature.

Without European support, sanctions are meaningless. Tie up Assad's personal bank accounts and the ATM card no longer works.

More disconcerting is the face of post-Assad Syria. Who steps in to fill his shoes? Well, we'll just have to see, won't we?

How to Handle Hamas - a new proposal

Yagil Henkin, an associate fellow at the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies at the Shalem Center, has some suggestions on how to deal effectively with Hamas.

While there is much discussion as to the continuation of sanctions against Hamas, Henkin asks, What sanctions should be applied and what can they achieve?

It is very unlikely that sanctions will cause the Hamas government to fall. Historically, embargoes have either failed to catalyze change, or were extremely slow in bringing it. In the best-case scenarios, sanctions have been helpful as part of a wider strategy.

After discussing the use of sanctions in the cases of Rhodesia and South Africa, Henkin turns to Israel's restrictions on building supplies and other materials going into Gaza (with the acquiescence of Egypt.)

SO, WHAT sanctions can be applied against Hamas? Apart from controlling the border and an arms embargo, the most effective way to apply pressure on Hamas is not to indirectly pressure them via their population, but rather pressure Hamas itself, as part of a wider strategy. The international community must act, if it is interested in the welfare of Gaza's residents and curbing radical Islam.

The steps to be taken?

First, Hamas leaders should be prevented from traveling abroad and being officially received - including the leadership based outside Gaza. Second, any organization affiliated with Hamas should be ignored, and, third, economic sanctions applied against individuals and businesses connected to Hamas.

Will this dissolve Hamas's obstinacy? Hopefully, but not certainly. Both Zimbabwe and Myanmar have survived government-targeted sanctions. But hopefully by focusing the sanctions and blame where they belong - on Hamas - while keeping civilians uninvolved, this will succeed. Sanctions may not catalyze change as effectively as we would like, but this neither renders them unnecessary nor suggests we should embargo lock, stock and barrel.

Read the full article, How to effectively sanction Hamas