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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/04/AR2006110400959.html
China, Russia Object to Including Military Option in Sanctions Resolution
[Washington Post] Colum Lynch - As the Bush administration struggles to rally international pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear program, China and Russia are working to take the most powerful diplomatic weapon off the table: the military option. Moscow and Beijing insist that a UN sanctions resolution should avoid language that could be used as a pretext for a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, and have received the tacit backing of Britain, France, and Germany. "What means of enforcement is credible if you start out by saying in the beginning that 'oh, by the way, we're not going to do the one thing that you're most afraid of?'" said Patrick Clawson, deputy director for research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He said the council should "have the military option on the table" in the event that the government that threatened to wipe Israel off the map does develop nuclear weapons.