STRENGTHENING THE MUSCLE – AT 10:17 A.M. ET:  Washington is taking some action to show a bit of spine to Iran.  But it will take a lot more than this.  From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is accelerating the deployment of new defenses against possible Iranian missile attacks in the Persian Gulf, placing special ships off the Iranian coast and antimissile systems in at least four Arab countries, according to administration and military officials.

The deployments come at a critical turning point in President Obama’s dealings with Iran. After months of unsuccessful diplomatic outreach, the administration is trying to win broad international consensus for sanctions against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, which Western nations say control a covert nuclear arms program.

Mr. Obama spoke of the shift in his State of the Union address, warning of “consequences” if Iran continued to defy United Nations demands to stop manufacturing nuclear fuel. And Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton publicly warned China on Friday that its opposition to sanctions was shortsighted.

The news that the United States is deploying antimissile defenses — including a rare public discussion of them by Gen. David H. Petraeus — appears to be part of a coordinated administration strategy to increase pressure on Iran.

COMMENT:  I'm glad it's coordinated.  Hurrah, hurrah.  But the reality is that China, with a veto at the UN, continues to oppose sanctions on Iran.  While Russia has shown a bit more flexibility, we don't really know how far Moscow will go. 

And what if a watered-down round of new sanctions is ignored, as have all the sanctions on Iran in the past?  Is there a plan, or will we wake up one day to an Iranian bomb, with the "realist" crowd then telling us, "We must adjust to new circumstances"?

We are taking bets.  

January 31, 2010