The American view that the French are wimps is ugly and undeserved but widely held, so French President Sarkozy’s statement implying that President Obama is one gets our attention. Apparently Obama didn’t want Sarkozy to upstage him at the UN in September. The result:
Sarkozy was so annoyed with Obama’s weak-kneed approach that he reportedly told Le Monde that “we live in the real world, not in a virtual one”, a cutting and mocking reference to the US president’s drive for a new arms control treaty.
More from the Wall Street Journal
President Sarkozy in particular pushed hard. He had been “frustrated” for months about Mr. Obama’s reluctance to confront Iran, a senior French government official told us, and saw an opportunity to change momentum. But the Administration told the French that it didn’t want to “spoil the image of success” for Mr. Obama’s debut at the U.N. and his homily calling for a world without nuclear weapons, according to the Paris daily Le Monde.
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Is the talk of sanctions and possible military strikes blinding many in the West to the role of internal dissent in ending the Iranian bomb crisis?
In today’s (30 Sept 2009) UK telegraph Crown Prince of Iran Reza Pahlavi – son of the Shah – argues that supporting the people is the best route to blocking the Iranian nuclear bomb program:
By supporting the Iranian people and their struggle for human rights, by elevating the importance of their liberties, the West will find its greatest ally on the nuclear issue. Empowering the opposition movement will encourage and prolong internal dissent, and sustaining that internal unrest is the key to cracking the clerical code.
While sanctions can in fact prove to be a useful tool in the shed of diplomacy, they result in the suffering of a nation’s citizens, victimising the innocent many for the sins of the stubborn few. For sanctions to truly be effective in Iran, human rights have to be put on equal footing with the nuclear concern. Many of my Iranian compatriots have indicated to me that they would be willing to add to their hardships in the short term only if they believe that sanctions will curtail the lifespan of clerical oppression and cure their want of human rights.
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All items in this post are sourced from publicly available information. Like all By The Numbers posts, this is intended to be a reference for your information and use, updated regularly, with every item linked back to a source document for further information. Since many details of the Iranian program are sketchy, these numbers are subject to frequent change and may deviate from other published sources.
- 3:: Number of known Iranian research reactor sites
- 2:: Number of known Iranian uranium enrichment plants: Qom and Natanz
- 10 to 15:: Possible number of secret Iranian nuclear development sites, including recently revealed Qom site.
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You’d think that President Obama could spare a few minutes for a formal meeting with the leader of one of our oldest and most important allies while both are in town on business. Not so. According to the BBC:
The prime minister’s team were “frantic” after being unable to secure the talks at the UN summit in New York, a diplomatic source has told the BBC.
However, the president held private meetings with the leaders of Japan, China and Russia.
Downing Street said reports of a snub were “completely without foundation”.
Not a snub? Sounds like typical British “stiff upper lip” stuff so as not to create further tension and to minimize Brown’s domestic political embarrassment.
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Is President Obama unintentionally outsourcing US foreign policy?
A pattern emerging from recent events suggests so. Up first, of course, is the plan to scrap the US Missile Defense shield in Eastern Europe, a long-time thorn in the side of many European and US Liberals, not to mention Vladimir Putin. By putting the planned system on hold, Obama has simultaneously angered many of our European allies and appeased the Russians, who must be dancing in glee behind the walls of the Kremlin.
What’s the effect? The EU has neither the will nor resources to effectively deal with a resurgent and emboldened Russia looking to expand its influence, especially with former Eastern Bloc nations. This credibility-destroying decision cements Russia’s position as the other 800-lb gorilla in the room, and effectively outsources at least some European security decisions to them.
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Looks like Hugo and Mahmoud are getting even friendlier. The events of last week – the furor over Obama’s speech to US school children, his health care address to a joint session of Congress, September 11th commemorations, and the 9/12 Washington march – overshadowed the announcement of a new strategic deal between Venezuela and Iran.
According to the AP, “Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sealed an agreement to export 20,000 barrels per day of gasoline to Iran, state TV reported Monday. The deal would give Tehran a cushion if the West carries out threats of fuel sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program.”
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