Soccer Dad

Guarding the guards

The New York Times reported Terrorist Label for Iran Guard Reflects U.S. Impatience With U.N.

“We are confronting Iranian behavior across a variety of different fronts, on a number of different, quote unquote, battlefields, if you will,” the State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, told reporters in Washington. His use of the word “battlefields” was described by some European diplomats as another ratcheting up of the anti-Iran statements.

Mr. McCormack maintained that his use of the word did not mean that the State Department had adopted the view that the United States should confront Iran militarily, a view that has been advocated by some officials in Vice President Dick Cheney’s office.

“I was trying to illustrate that you don’t just confront Iran with guns and soldiers; sometimes you do it with lawyers and accountants and diplomats,” Mr. McCormack said.

But other administration officials said that the United States was getting increasingly frustrated that Security Council sanctions, which were meant to rein in Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, have been anemic. Beyond that, administration officials are worried that America’s allies in imposing the sanctions — particularly Russia and China — have been slow to agree to increase the pressure and have balked at imposing tougher measures.

The article goes on to bring up Iranian objections to the designation.

“The Americans want to cover up their own failure in Iraq with these kinds of accusations,” said Akbar Alami, a reformist member of Parliament.

A former deputy defense minister, Alireza Akbari, warned that the measure could cause instability in the region. “If they put pressure on the security apparatus of a country, they should expect a similar reaction,” he said. “And it would certainly serve the real terrorists in the region if the United States and Iran move toward confronting one another.”

Since there would be financial implications to this designation, I'd guess that this is how the Iranians express their fear of the American action.

The Hashmonean appreciates the American move.

Of course, the Iranian missionaries of murder don’t fight soldiers head on, they are cowards who target civilians with rockets, or scurry around like rats & roaches leaving roadside bombs along the way in the hopes of thwarting their number one enemy - Liberty & Freedom.

They train, they arm and they recruit because Iran is the foremost World sponsor of Terrorism, home of the Islamic Revolution and the Guards are the foot-soldiers in their terrorist army. It was the Revolutionary Guards who abducted at gunpoint the UK’s sailors recently, and it is the Revolutionary Guards whom Iran has threatened to employ in the training & deployment of over 50,000 human suicide bombers to target America & its interests.

When one considers all this, in conjunction with the mad drive for nuclear weapons, the endless threats and sickening repression, the lack of human rights, the religious police strolling around beating people for not dressing according to Islamic code.. One can only stop, look at the American administration and ask - What the hell took you so long!?

Robin Wright gives some details in the Washington Post how the designation could work.

The main goal of the new designation is to clamp down on the Revolutionary Guard's vast business network, as well as on foreign companies conducting business linked to the military unit and its personnel. The administration plans to list many of the Revolutionary Guard's financial operations.

"Anyone doing business with these people will have to reevaluate their actions immediately," said a U.S. official familiar with the plan who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the decision has not been announced. "It increases the risks of people who have until now ignored the growing list of sanctions against the Iranians. It makes clear to everyone who the IRGC and their related businesses really are. It removes the excuses for doing business with these people."

Unfortunately at the end of the informative article Wright finds a naysayer to quote.

The administration's move could hurt diplomatic efforts, some analysts said. "It would greatly complicate our efforts to solve the nuclear issue," said Joseph Cirincione, a nuclear proliferation expert at the Center for American Progress. "It would tie an end to Iran's nuclear program to an end to its support of allies in Hezbollah and Hamas. The only way you could get a nuclear deal is as part of a grand bargain, which at this point is completely out of reach."

Such sanctions can work only alongside diplomatic efforts, Cirincione added.

(see more at memeorandum)

Roger L Simon critiques Wright's reporting

What interests me here is how the article came to be. The prose is sprinkled with the usual journo-blather: "according to US officials... sources said... analysts said," etc. But which officials and which sources and which analysts, nadie sabe. Meaning, I write what I want to write. Or perhaps I should say I Wright what I Wright. That's not to say this is wrong or it's not happening but my best guess is that someone at the State Department leaked this to the reporter because he/she knew the reporter would be cooperative,be the right mouthpiece. And he/she was correct. That's modern journalism. Or perhaps more accurately, "Scoop" lives.

ScrappleFace has a handle on the problem:
US May Label Iran Guards ‘Terrorist’, Earth ‘Round’

Today's reporting by Wright confirm Roger L Simon's assessment. Somehow she can't find anyone to offer unqualified support of the administration's action.

Although they share deep concern about Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions, European and Arab governments are particularly alarmed about new U.S. moves, including plans to cite Iran's entire Revolutionary Guard Corps as a "specially designated global terrorist." The move would block the elite unit's assets and pressure foreign companies doing business with its vast commercial network.

If the Revolutionary Guard is a threat doesn't it make sense to limit their resources? This seems to be a no-brainer.

UPDATE: Maryland Conservatarian weighs in with At the risk of offending Iran ...

more via buzztracker.

iranian revolutionary guards.