Russia invades Ukraine, EU dithers...

Russia is pouring thousands of men and heavy weapons into Ukraine to prop up the rebels.  You would think tough new sanctions would be imposed at a minimum. That hasn't happened. The truth is the EU lacks the spine to impose tough sanction on Russia because it would hurt their economies almost as much as Russia. Obama could impose tough sanction if he wanted too. It would hurt the US economy much because we don't do that much trade with Russia. He is not doing it because he doesn't want to make his EU buddies look bad.

Via FOX News:

European Union leaders stopped short of imposing new economic sanctions on Russia in response to the latest developments in Ukraine early Sunday, instead tasking the organization's executive body to "urgently" prepare tougher economic sanctions that could be adopted within a week after Ukraine's president warned of a possible "full-scale war" in eastern Europe.
The 28 leaders of E.U. member countries also issued a statement calling on Russia to "immediately withdraw all its military assets and forces from Ukraine."
In recent days, a new advance by Moscow-backed separatist rebels has resulted in the seizure of the coastal town of Novoazovsk, stoking fears that the larger port of Mariupol would be the next target.
The offensive appears to have succeeded in relieving some of the pressure on the rebel-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, which had been surrounded by government troops in recent weeks. Ukraine military spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko said Saturday that troops were abandoning the town of of Ilovaysk, about 15 miles east of  Donetsk, where its forces had been surrounded by rebels for days.

Is Obama trying to kill Putin by causing him to laugh himself to death?

There just doesn't seem to be another rational explanation...

MOSCOW – Russia’s deputy prime minister laughed off President Obama’s sanction against him today  asking “Comrade @BarackObama” if “some prankster” came up with the list.
The Obama administration hit 11 Russian and Ukrainian officials with sanctions today as punishment for Russia’s support of Crimea’s referendum. Among them: aides to President Vladimir Putin, a top government official, senior lawmakers, Crimean officials, the ousted president of Ukraine, and a Ukrainian politician and businessman allegedly tied to violence against protesters in Kiev.
It remains to be seen whether the sanctions will dissuade Russia from annexing Crimea, but one an early clue that they will not be effective came just hours later when President Putin signed a decree recognizing Crimea as an independent state, perhaps an early step towards annexation.
U.S. official have warned of additional sanctions for Russian action, hoping it will deter Russia from any further aggression towards Ukraine, but it didn’t appear to upset the often outspoke Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.[...]
Another Russian on the sanctions list, Vladislav Surkov, also seemed unconcerned.
Surkov,  a top Putin ideologue often called the Kremlin’s grey cardinal, reportedly told a Russian newspaper, “It’s a big honor for me. I don’t have accounts abroad. The only things that interest me in the U.S. are Tupac Shakur, Allen Ginsberg, and Jackson Pollock. I don’t need a visa to access their work. I lose nothing.”

Cave: Demo Senators claim they never intended to vote on their Iran sanction bill...

Someones spine is missing. If anyone has a spare, send it to Sen. Joe Manchin.

Via The Hill:

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said on MSNBC Tuesday night that he didn’t endorse the bill so that it could be voted on during negotiations with Iran. “Give peace a chance,” he said.
"I did not sign it with the intention that it would ever be voted upon or used upon while we were negotiating," Manchin said. "I signed it because I wanted to make sure the president had a hammer, if he needed it and showed them how determined we were to do it and use it, if we had to." Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) authored the legislation late last year, after the United States announced with its allies they had reached an interim deal with Iran to curb its nuclear program. The six-month agreement took effect last week.
The sanctions bill, however, would add additional and tougher sanctions than those already in place.
In his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, Obama urged the bill’s 59 co-sponsors to reconsider their positions and to give diplomacy a chance. 

Fail: Those tough Iran sanctions aren't destroying the Iranian economy...

Life goes on in Iran...

(Reuters) - Hossein Ahmad, an Iranian who runs a jewelry shop in wealthy Dubai, marvels at the spending power he sees on show during his monthly trips to Tehran, a year after U.S. sanctions largely froze Iran out of the global banking system.

Shops in the Iranian capital are crowded. Finding a seat at good restaurants can be difficult. And the ski resorts in the mountains north of Tehran continue to attract Tehran's glamorous and well-heeled.
"The economy has problems with the sanctions, yes. But it's still working," he says. "It isn't as bad as people outside the country think."

Sanctions are clearly having an impact; the country's oil revenue has been slashed and other trade disrupted; a weak currency has sent the prices of some imports soaring, destroying jobs as some factories using imported parts have folded.

But they are not close to having the "crippling" effect envisaged by Washington. The Iranian government has found ways to soften the impact, and Iran's economy is large and diverse enough to absorb a lot of punishment. Read it all...

Report: Obama sent message to Iran claiming Congress forced him to impose sanctions on central bank

These are the same tough sanctions Obama took credit for at the last debate...

TEHRAN (FNA) – Senior Iranian parliamentary sources revealed on Saturday that the Swiss envoy to Tehran has quoted US President Barack Obama as acknowledging Iran’s nuclear rights.

Swiss Ambassador to Tehran Livia Leu Agosti attended a meeting with senior Iranian foreign ministry officials a few days ago to submit a letter from the US president to Tehran leaders.

Vice-Chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Hossein Ebrahimi told FNA that during the meeting, Agosti had told the Iranian officials that President Barack Obama recognizes Iran’s right of access and use of the nuclear technology.

“There are a couple of points with regard to this (US) message (to Iran),” Ebrahimi said and added, “Firstly, during the session to submit the message, the Swiss ambassador to Tehran quoted the US president as saying that ‘we (the US) recognize your nuclear rights’.”

As regards the second issue, the lawmaker said that the Swiss diplomat had also quoted Obama as saying that “I didn’t want to impose sanctions on your central bank but I had no options but to approve it since a Congress majority had approved the decision.”

Chutzpah: Ahmadinejad tells West, "As God is my witness, the Iranian nation will not give a damn for [your] bombs"

Does anyone really think sanctions are going to work with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?

KARAJ, Iran — Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a defiant TV speech Sunday in which he taunted the West, saying the Islamic Republic is unfazed by the threat of Western military action.

“As God is my witness, the Iranian nation will not give a damn for [your] bombs, warships and planes,” Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech in Karaj, west of Tehran, reported by the official IRNA news agency.

“They say all [options] are on the table. Well, let them rot there. You yourself will rot,” he added.
The hard-line leader accused the US and other Western nations of bullying Iran, adding that the West “should talk politely, and recognize the rights of nations, and cooperate instead of showing teeth, and weapons and bombs.”

Obama plans futile gesture in response to Libyan crackdown

Via Politico:

The White House came down hard on Muammar Gaddafi on Friday as it announced sanctions on Libya intended to send the message that the regime needs to stop hurting its people and start listening to them.

The exact nature of the sanctions will not be announced until Monday, but there is little we sell of value to Muammar Gaddafi; except for some aircraft parts and non-lethal military equipment. Lethal hardware is already banned. We currently buy next to nothing in oil from Libya. White House press secretary Jay Carney claims sanctions are effective.

Sanctions on regimes like Libya's "have been shown to have an effect," he said.

Sanctions have been shown to be effective on dictatorial regimes? Well, they worked so well on former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. and they have worked well getting Iran's President Ahmadinejad to abandon his nuclear weapon ambitions.

Ahmadinejad Thumbs His Nose at Sanctions

I wish the title of this pot could have been "Ahmadinejad wets his pants in fear of sanctions." Of course, the opposite is true. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is disdainful of Obama and his attempts to tighten sanctions. Accordong to the Iranian state press, He said,

“They know they cannot do a damn thing with sanctions.”

The sanctions are a minor inconvenience at best. The only sanction that would really bite would be an oil sale embargo. That would hurt the West as much as Iran and drive up oil prices. Don't expect anyone to suggest this during the current worldwide economic meltdown.

The Hill reported:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out over the weekend in the wake of Obama signing congressional sanctions into law.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out over the weekend in the wake of President Barack Obama signing into law last week the toughest-ever sanctions to come out of Congress.

“Bullying powers know that no room will remain for them in the world if the Iranian nation mounts its efforts,” Ahmadinejad said, according to the government-owned Press TV. “They know they cannot do a damn thing with sanctions.”

Obama Quietly Removes Sanctions From Russian Organizations Helping Iran Develop Nukes

The Obama administration has quietly removed sanctions from three Russian organizations that have been helping Iran develop nuclear weapons. The move is thought to be aimed at getting the Russians to support additional sanctions against Iran. Ironically, the Russian organizations were being punished for failing to heed previous sanctions. The Obama administration is removing sanctions from organizations that violated sanctions in order to get more sanctions. Huh? What is the point of new sanctions if there is no penalty for violating sanctions?

The Jerusalem Post reported:

The Obama administration on Friday removed sanctions against three Russian organizations the US had previously accused of assisting Iran’s effort to develop nuclear weapons.

Penalties against a fourth Russian entity previously accused of illicit arms sales to Syria were also lifted.

The timing of the decisions, published in Friday’s Federal Register but not otherwise announced by the State Department, suggested the possibility of a link to US efforts to win Russian support for a new UN Security Council resolution expanding sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: U.N. resolutions “are not worth a penny”

Sadly, Ahmadinejad is correct. U.N. resolutions aren't worth a cent because Russia and China won't cooperate fully and, even if they would, we have nothing to offer a tyrant like Ahmadinejad that is more valuable to him than a nuclear arsenal.

MSNBC reported:

U.N. resolutions aimed at increasing sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program “are not worth a penny” and Tehran will give no ground to pressure, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday.

He was addressing six world powers that are discussing imposing more far-reaching sanctions on the major oil producer...

The Islamic Republic has repeatedly rejected international demands to halt its escalating uranium enrichment program.

Obama's Great Plan for Iran Sanctions: Give all The Business to China

President Obama doesn't want you to do business with Iran, unless you are China. The Team Obama wants tough new sanctions on Iran, but they are pushing to carve out an exemption for China. Our allies are "flabbergasted" to say the least.

The Washington Post reported:

The Obama administration is pushing to carve out an exemption for China and other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council from legislation pending in the Senate and the House that would tighten sanctions on companies doing business in Iran, administration and congressional sources said.

China has balked at supporting a fourth round of U.N. sanctions on Iran....

Obama said Iran is "running out of time." Threatens to send them to bed w/o their milk and cookies.

President Obama said Sunday, "we are now running out of time" for Iran to agree to a deal to ship its enriched uranium out of the country for additional processing. US President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hint more sanctions could be enacted. Currently there are three sets of sanctions against Iran. Most people consider these sanctions to be ineffective.

From FOX News:

The United States and its allies believe Iran is using its nuclear program as a cover for building a bomb. Tehran says it only wants to build nuclear reactors to generate electricity.

"We have to continue to maintain urgency and our previous discussions, confirming the need for a dual-track approach, are still the right approach to take. We will begin to discuss and prepare for these other pathways," Obama said.