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Confused on Iran

(Washington Post) Editorial - President Obama's official position on Iran is that "all options are on the table," including the use of force. But senior officials regularly talk down the military option in public - thereby undermining its utility even as an instrument of intimidation. A year-long attempt at engagement failed; now the push for sanctions is proceeding at a snail's pace. And what would sanctions accomplish? Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Financial Times last week that "maybe...that would lead to the kind of good-faith negotiations that President Obama called for 15 months ago." Yet the notion that the hard-line Iranian clique now in power would ever negotiate in good faith is far-fetched. More likely - and desirable - would be a victory by the opposition Green movement in Iran's ongoing domestic power struggle. But the administration has so far shrunk from supporting sanctions, such as a gasoline embargo, that might heighten popular anger against the regime.
2010-04-21 10:02:10
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