OH DEAR, ANOTHER FAILURE – AT 10:41 A.M. ET:  The Obama administration's half-hearted policy toward Iran has already failed, and other nations are trying to patch the holes in the ship so it sinks more slowly.  From Reuters:

(Reuters) - A U.N. resolution on new sanctions against Iran may not be ready until June and if a vote on it fails, European states could take unilateral measures instead, French and Finnish ministers said on Sunday.

China has already announced that it opposes new sanctions, so, unless they are watered down simply to bar the sale of Frisbees to Tehran, the vote will fail.  Europeans are now taking the lead:

If the United States, Britain, France and Germany -- the four leading the drive for sanctions that are expected to target Iranian banks and senior members of the Revolutionary Guard -- fail to secure U.N. backing, the EU looks likely to join the United States in imposing unilateral sanctions.

Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, who is hosting a weekend gathering of foreign ministers from the EU and Turkey in Lapland, said on Saturday there was "consensus enough" in the EU for unilateral sanctions and said it would be discussed at the next EU foreign ministers' meeting on March 22nd.

COMMENT:  What is needed is strong American leadership.  What we're getting is weak American leadership, in the hands of a man far more interested in appeasing Muslim extremists than confronting them. 

Iran is proceeding with its weapons program.  Nothing has stopped Tehran.  Obama has essentially taken the military option off the table, dramatically reducing any clout we might have.  Iran will get the bomb.  Obama will blame someone else.

March 14, 2010