IT HAPPENED IN RIO – AT 6:47 P.M. ET:  This morning we reported that Hillary Clinton has been rebuffed even by Brazil in trying to get stronger sanctions against Iraq.  The Christian Science Monitor reports on just how strongly rebuffed we were:

The visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Brazil Wednesday was billed as an effort to forge ties with a country that is increasingly emerging as a recognized global power.

But the rhetoric of partnership came easier than the reality. Brazil rebuffed Ms. Clinton's efforts to win support for more sanctions on Iran's nuclear program.

The Brazilian foreign minister, Celso Amorim, said it bluntly:

"We will not simply bow down to the evolving consensus if we do not agree."

Please note the tone.  We will not "bow down."  This isn't about Iran, it's about standing up to the United States.  That's been the trendy thing to do recently in Latin America, a style led by Hugo Chavez, with a hat tip to the Castro brothers in Cuba.  And it's a lot easier when a marshmallow inhabits the Oval Office.

Brazil is just one of several countries, such as China, that the US is lobbying. But getting Brazil on board would be particularly helpful to the US effort, as Iran has long held the position that only the US and some European nations support a tougher stance against Tehran.

Brazil knows that, and isn't coming on board.  There is no report of President Obama intervening with a phone call to Brazil.  Too busy, too busy.  Let Hillary hang out to dry.

Clinton also met with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who had earlier warned against "pushing" Iran into a corner.

He's a leftist, but acted responsibly toward the United States when Bush was in power.  Recently, despite the Obaman rhetoric, he's gotten more hostile.

But the most tensions have emerged over Iran, especially after Mr. Ahmadinejad was warmly welcomed in Brazil in November. Critics of da Silva, who is often referred to as Lula, in Brazil and the US, have called Brazil’s position an attempt to flex its muscle and show that it does not have to bow to US or European desires.

COMMENT: I guess this is more change we can believe in.  My, how the American people were taken for a ride in the 2008 elections.  Everyone was supposed to love us, and cooperate with us, once Barack Obama got the keys to the mansion.  Not so.

March 4, 2010