Originally from the NYT, so who knows if it's true. | WASHINGTON, April 21 — The Bush administration called today for Russia and the countries of Europe to impose their own penalties on Iran over its suspected nuclear arms program if no agreement on sanctions can be reached soon at the United Nations Security Council.
France will refuse to sell aircraft carriers to Iran, Spain won't sell port or oranges, Germany will ban all sales of pork sausage, and the Swiss will return all the Iranian's gold. | "If the Security Council cannot act over a reasonable period of time, then there will be an opportunity for groups of countries to organize themselves together for the purpose of isolating the Iranians diplomatically and economically," said R. Nicholas Burns, under secretary of state for political affairs and the lead envoy on Iran.
He added that "it's not beyond the realm of the possible that at some point in the future a group of countries could get together, if the Security Council is not able to act, to take collective economic action collective action on sanction."
If the Security Council is not able to act ...? | It was not clear that Europeans or the Russians were interested in a sanctions approach without the United Nations Security Council authorizing it, and American and European officials said they still hope the council will move in that direction next month. A European official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter, said several European countries would resist the approach of letting countries proceed without an international consensus.
The whole point of the exercise is to let them off the hook, and they jolly well won't volunteer to be on the hook again. | "If one or more countries break off and impose international sanctions, the Iranians would be thrilled," he said. "They would just be able to play countries off against each other. Going for sanctions, that would be a wasted exercise."
Everything is a waste according to the Y'urp-peons. Just ask Sartre and Camus. |
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