Word: iran
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...China, for its part, is not just playing hard-to-get on sanctions; it believes that Iran's nuclear program represents no imminent weaponization threat and that a lot more time must be allowed for dialogue in order to bring Tehran into full compliance with its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Despite Clinton's suggestion that Beijing supports the idea of parallel tracks of pressure and diplomacy, Chinese officials have repeatedly warned that sanctions could undermine prospects for a diplomatic solution, and has refused to consider the adoption of new measures at the Security Council. Beijing's opposition...
When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed the Israel lobbying group AIPAC on Monday, one of her best-received lines was her vow that "the United States is determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons." Israel and its advocates in Washington see Iran's nuclear program, rather than the conflict with the Palestinians, as the prime issue in the U.S.-Israel conversation. So Clinton talked up the Administration's efforts to halt Iran's uranium-enrichment program, citing "a growing international consensus on taking steps to pressure Iran's leaders to change course." Europe was on board, she said...
...actual level of progress on the Iran sanctions front, however, has not yet caught up with Clinton's tough talk - and there's little sign that any of the pressure being mustered will realistically stop Iran from slowly acquiring the means to create a nuclear bomb (though the U.S. believes Tehran has not yet decided to actually build such weapons). Even if Europe were unanimously on board - it isn't quite, particularly on the unilateral sanctions with which the U.S. wants to supplement U.N. efforts - Russia has yet to offer any clear support for new sanctions. And even while Secretary...
...issues more relevant to the continent, Schmitz wrote in Der Spiegel. While American politicians have battled over health care, "every other issue has become a sideshow," he says. "The Afghanistan mission: of marginal interest. Protecting the environment: postponed. Peace in the Middle East: off in the distance. Sanctions against Iran: delayed. Europe: not even worth a trip." Ouch...
While NATO troops remain in the area, the drug traffickers will stay away. Some have fled south to Pakistan's empty Baluchistan desert; others are holed up in the nearby mountains of Musa Qala, while the rest have decamped to Nimruz province, a major smuggler's crossing into Iran. Says Gretchen Peters, an author and expert on Taliban drug ties with traffickers: "Counternarcotics, just like counterinsurgency, is like playing whack-a-mole. You knock it out in one place, and it pops up somewhere else." (See pictures of Afghanistan's battlefield priest...