Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Is Russia stepping up on Iran?
Russia, for all its interest in keeping the United States tied up in Iraq instead of up its own shorts, does not want Iran to obtain nuclear weapons even if that sad development would pin us down in Iraq longer than otherwise necessary.
Read that last sentence carefully, because I meant every word.
Now consider that the Russians are now threatening to join the three Western UNSC members in imposing sanctions on Iran.
Discuss.
7 Comments:
By 
, at
Wed Feb 27, 10:30:00 PM:
Is this some clever ploy to drive up oil prices still further?
Create the crisis, then sanction it? Take Iran's oil export production off the world market to spike prices even more? That would poke the US, Europe and China in the eye.
Remember that Russia is a nation of chess players.
-David
By , at
Wed Feb 27, 10:46:00 PM:
Perhaps, David. While Russia wants to make things as uncomfortable as possible for the US ( just like the good old days), Russia's proximity to Iran also means that Russia could suffer consequences of a nuclear Iran more than the US. Regarding ties of friendship: what countries had troops in northern Iran during WW2?
By , at
Wed Feb 27, 11:31:00 PM:
does iran getting a weapon really change anything? they could only use it once, and then they would be gone. everyone knows that. a large and well trained military would be far more disruptive in that it could actually be used without terminal consequences.
By , at
Wed Feb 27, 11:45:00 PM:
To understand Russian mindset about Iran, Americans only need to search their feelings about Mexico.
Make it Islamic Mexico.
The rest is Diplomacy.
By , at
Thu Feb 28, 12:20:00 AM:
Beware of the sceams of the bear and the dragon
By 
TigerHawk, at
Thu Feb 28, 06:27:00 AM:
Russia has a lot of complicated feelings about Iran, including a general view that it ought to dominate the Persian Gulf and that the British and Americans have frustrated that ambition for 200 years. It also is very afraid that Iran will boost its support for the Chechan Islamists who have so terrorized Russia. Candide's point is a good one, but I would modify it slightly -- imagine if Mexico were Islamic and Arizona had a Muslim majority and had already attempted to secede, and that Arizona separatists had been setting off bombs in New York and Washington. That's the situation Russia faces.
By , at
Thu Feb 28, 07:02:00 AM:
"The United States, Britain and France are pushing to impose new punitive measures on Iran, which they suspect of seeking to acquire a nuclear weapon blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
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BOOM!!!!!!!
