Only a fool would think that diplomacy and sanctions will work

.

China's UN ambassador, Li Baodong, said today that the six party talks regarding Iran's nuclear program were "very constructive"--which means that there is no agreement.

Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said that the six would meet again "very soon" -- which means "someday maybe, but it is not on my schedule."

I figure that these two images must be from their UN badge photos.

It appears that sanctions against Iran are not forthcoming.  China is currently shipping gasoline to Iran to make up for the European countries that have stopped.  (Iran has vast oil reserves, but very little refining capability -- except for uranium refining capability.)  And both China and Brazil have steadfastly refused to go along with sanctions.  The head of Brazil even stated that Iran should indeed have nuclear weapons -- because Israel does.  Never mind the fact that Israel doesn't threaten its neighbors with apocalyptic genocide like Iran.  And Russia's Medvedev stated today that he was not in favor of paralyzing or crippling sanctions.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

It is interesting to note that Brazil has a fully functioning nuclear infrastructure.  It is estimated that they could produce about six weapons per year with the centrifuges they are currently known to have.

But sanctions are of no value anyway.  We could physically close Iran's borders and set up a naval blockade and they would simply keep on developing nukes.  This is why:

Ahmadinejad, socialized in the 1980s into the ethos of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is continuing the legacy of the Ayatollah Khomeini, whose global agenda aimed to destroy American hegemony in the Middle East and “wipe Israel off the map.” A unique aspect of this Shi’ite outlook is a dualistic division of the world into oppressors (the West) and oppressed (Third World countries), with radical Islam and the impoverished masses locked in an apocalyptic battle against the US and Israel, the Great Satan and its little brother.

Still more ominous, however, is the influence of Ahmadinejad’s mentor, Ayatollah Muhammad Taqi Mezhab-Yazdi, who has instilled in Iran’s president the conviction that Shi’ites can, and must, hasten the coming of the mahdi, or messiah – the 12th and final Hidden Imam – by advancing “the clash of civilizations,” Armageddon and the end of days by, for instance, precipitating a nuclear war.

In his book A Lethal Obsession, scholar of anti-Semitism Robert Wistrich argues that “Western decision-makers have not fully internalized the jihadist and eschatological dimensions of Iranian policy – the full implications of its underlying ideology, aspirations, and values.” As a result, economic sanctions, no matter how “crippling,” won’t work. Rational cost-benefit decision-making processes are not in play.

Ayatollah Muhammad Taqi Mezhab-Yazdi

It is useless to attempt to dissuade a religious Armageddon imperative by using sanctions on trade.  It is like....hmmmm.  Well, I was going to try to make a comparison of a foreign power trying to convince the US to give up our beliefs, but now that I think about it, we have no beliefs that we wouldn't give up.

I suppose we used to.   We used to be a Christian nation, but we are no longer.  We used to believe in an American philosophy of individual freedom.  Now we believe in forced diversity and equivalency of all cultures -- except for those of old white men.  We used to believe in "The American Dream" of working hard and building your own life and wealth.  Now we want the government to punish all rich people and provide free housing, food, and health care.  We are fat dumb and happy -- barefoot and vulnerable in a world of rapine violence.

Actually this is quite a revelation in itself.  We are in a cultural war, but we have no strongly held shared cultural beliefs at all.  Our opponent is driven by a vast, strong, and absolutely imperative shared belief structure that drives him to jihad -- a conquering of all unbelievers.  Our enemy has billions of adherents willing to die -- to kill themselves even -- in order to propagate their faith and law.

Just based on that, if you were to place a bet on who will be ruling the world in 50 years, who would you pick?
.