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Source: http://www.nysun.com/article/42462
On Iran, Toothless Diplomacy
[New York Sun] Benny Avni - Oddsmakers say the UN Security Council will agree on sanctions for Iran sometime in November, but the proposed sanctions have little punitive value. Too many countries fear confronting petroleum-producing Iran, which can retaliate by canceling contracts or wreaking terrorist havoc, as it did in Argentina in 1994. Passing a sanctions resolution against Iran is by itself an important symbolic act. But if symbolism is the goal, other measures might be more meaningful. Elie Wiesel has proposed revoking Iran's membership on the grounds that it violated the UN charter by calling for the elimination of a member state. The goal of such suggestions is to isolate and hurt the mullahs where it counts: Persian national pride and the sense of superiority that so far has soared after each announcement of a nuclear advance.