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Iran Sanctions Are Failing. What's Next?
(Wall Street Journal) Danielle Pletka - It has become clear that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's promise of "crippling sanctions" is little more than talk. The administration simply cannot persuade a critical mass of nations to join with it. After months of begging, China will agree only to discuss the possibility of a fourth UN Security Council resolution punishing Tehran's noncompliance with its nonproliferation commitments. But along with Russia, it has already ruled out any measures to target the regime or the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Even nonpermanent UN Security Council members Japan, Brazil and Turkey have reportedly rebuffed the administration requests to support tougher sanctions. Sanctions increasingly appear to be a fading hope. Thus we are left with a stark alternative: Either Iran gets a nuclear weapon and we manage the risk, or someone acts to eliminate the threat. The mess of U.S.-Israel relations has ironically only bolstered the fears of Arab governments that the current U.S. administration is a feckless ally. If the U.S. won't stand by Israel, by whom will it stand? Conversely, our adversaries view the distancing from Israel as evidence of American retreat. The writer is vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.