The die is cast

By their announcement on February 8 that they are now starting to enrich
uranium to 20% the Iranians have cast the die. They also recently
announced that they have 300 new centrifuges that are for uranium
enrichment. From now on there is no turning back.

While Pres. Ahmedinejad tried to muddy the waters this week by saying
that they would accept "some" of their uranium going abroad for partial
enrichment, the international community was not persuaded to start
further talks on that basis. Now this clear statement of intent leaves
no room for doubt, either the international community, led by a weak US,
inititates tough sanctions against Iran, that are strong enough to cause
them to alter course, or there will have to be military action. We all
wish that it were not so, but continuing statements that we cannot allow
Iran to develop nuclear weapons have not been followed so far by any
action.

It is interesting that PM Netanyahu is going to Moscow for three days of
talks and he seems to be doing Pres. Obama's work, by being a leader of
western interests in trying to persuade Russia to participate in a UN
Security Council resolution to support tough sanctions against Iran.
Since France now holds the Presidency of the SC, and Pres. Sarkozy has
come out in favor of strong sanctions, there is now more chance of them
being passed by the SC. The key player is Russia, since of the 5
permanent members the three western allies, France, the UK and the US,
will support such a resolution. Both Russia and China have large
financial ties with Iran, however, if Russia decides to go along, then it
is unlikely that China will want to be the hold-out, to be isolated from
the rest of the international leadership.

So Netanyahu's visit to Moscow is crucial, if he can persuade Pres.
Medvedev and PM Putin to go along, then maybe we could avoid military
action, and maybe the internal dissension in Iran, with additional tough
sanctions, will allow the time and the impetus to take strong action
against the regime. But, if Russia is not persuaded, then the furture
looks bleak. A question - where is the "leader of the free world" in all
of this?