We talk; they run out the clock.
Ditto Iran. The third P5+1 meeting with Iran was held last month in Moscow. The talks ended with the Iranians intractably proclaiming their “non-negotiable demands” and the West offering another round of “technical expert talks.” As the talks failed, a new and heavier round of sanctions was slated to begin on 1 July. But as the date rolled around, the Obama administration gave waivers to 20 of Iran’s biggest trading partners to allow them to continue to purchase Iranian oil.
More talk not followed by action – not even action required by U.S. legislation.
Granting that Congress gave the Executive Branch the waiver option, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen nonetheless criticized the administration for letting China off the hook. “The administration likes to pat itself on the back for supposedly being strong on Iran sanctions. But… (it) granted a free pass to Iran’s biggest enabler, China.” She pledged that “Congress will once again fill the leadership vacuum created by the administration, and work to strengthen sanctions against the regime in Tehran.”
There are ways Congress can “fill the leadership vacuum” produced by the administration’s determination to talk its way through the world’s problems – even when large parts of the world prove immune to its charms. The most useful would be for Congress to continue to establish practical measures of cooperation with Israel, working with Israel as a partner in addressing the security threats faced by democratic countries large and small — and, with the power of the purse the Constitution grants it, take the suggestion of Ambassador John Bolton: only “to pay for what we get, and get what we pay for” in funding the UN.
Originally published by Gatestone Institute http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org