OPINION:
Iran is an apocalyptic Islamic theocracy planning to establish hegemony in the Middle East, undermine Sunni Arab governments in the area and wipe from the map our one firm ally in the region and the sole legitimate democracy, Israel.
Iran hasno intention of reaching an agreement with the West that would stymie in any manner its relentless drive to acquire nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them (“EU adopts new sanctions against Iran,” Web, News, Monday).
In approaching this most vexing problem, President Obama initially appeared undismayed that the soft talkers of the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency have endured years of Iranian intransigence without meaningful progress and that earlier sanctions regimes have not worked. The first 1 1/2 years of the Obama administration provided scant comfort that his proposal of doubling down on a failed talking cure would work. By now, it must be apparent to even the most ardent pixie-dusters in the administration that the president’s open-hand policy of bright smiles and goodwill comes up a tad short with the more grounded mullahs in Tehran. With Iran having played rope-a-dope with Western negotiators for years, the threat of more sanctions will be as effective as a Clydesdale on a polo field.
Most would agree with late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who noted, “Jaw-jaw is better than war-war.” However, when Iran uses negotiations as a ploy in its nefarious march to nuclear weapons, sanctions will not work. Meanwhile, the centrifuges continue to whir and the din is more than noisome as we cross our fingers over a rabbit’s foot.
PAUL BLOUSTEIN
Cincinnati
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