The latest sanctions against Iran, drawn up by the Jewish Supremacist AIPAC lobby, includes the “most flagrant layers of sanctions ever enacted to undermine the economy of any country,” according to a new article in the Foreign Policy Journal.
According to the article, only Congressman Ron Paul rose to speak in strong opposition to H.R. 1905 on August 1, labeling it a “declaration of war against Iran even though Iran has no nuclear weapons program”. And so it is.
H.R. 1905 sponsor and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) was almost giddy as she promised to deliver Florida to Romney and gushed: “This bipartisan, bicameral Iran sanctions legislation strengthens current U.S. law by leaps and bounds and it updates and expands U.S. sanctions, and counters Iran’s efforts to evade them. The bill sends a clear message to the Iranian mullahs that the U.S. is committed, through the use of sanctions, to preventing Iran from crossing the nuclear threshold.”
She reminded the media that Romney told Israeli officials in Jerusalem that the Obama administration was not doing enough to stop Iran’s nuclear program and that: “Essentially president Obama is doing nothing!”
H.R. 1905 is a catch-all frenzied election year gimmick that lumps together legislative initiatives of all sorts in order to corral votes for Romney immediately after his Israel trip, which left little doubt that Israeli leaders believe that Israel will have less leverage to squeeze the US to take on yet another big military action if Obama is re-elected than if Romney wins.
H.R. 1905:
* Puts virtually all of Iran’s energy, financial, and transportation sectors under U.S. sanction. Companies conducting business with Iran in these sectors face losing access to U.S. markets;
* Applies harsh sanctions designed to prevent Iran from repatriating any proceeds from its oil sales, thus depriving Iran of 80 percent of its hard currency earnings and half of the funds to support its national budget for education, health, food subsidies and other needed public purposes;
* Places more tough sanctions on the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC);
* Targets Iran’s use of barter transactions to bypass sanctions, the provision of insurance to Iran’s energy sector, and the provision of specialized financial messaging services to the Central Bank of Iran;
In its letter to Congressmen, designed to aid Mitt Romney, AIPAC writes: “America and our allies must unite in a tough response to Iran’s belligerent approach. We must continue to send a strong message to Tehran that it will face unremitting pressure until it complies with its international obligations and end its nuclear weapons quest. We strongly support The Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act (H.R. 1905) and urge you to vote YES.”
The letter is signed by the following AIPAC supporters of Romney: Howard Kohr, Executive Director; Marvin Feuer, Director, Policy & Government Affairs; and Brad Gordon, Director of Special Campaigns.
Learning what the Israeli lobby was attempting from its contacts at AIPAC, Obama campaign strategists moved fast and decided to have their candidate use his constitutional powers and undercut the Romney strategists toute de suite.
Obama did so and angered AIPAC and Republican leaders in Congress before the lopsided House vote on July 12, when the White House quickly invited supporters of Israel to a media event at which the President issued an Executive Order, which he explained included “Two major actions to further isolate and penalize Iran for its refusal to live up to its international obligations regarding its nuclear program and to hold accountable financial institutions that knowingly provide financial services to Iranian banks.”
As a result of pre-empting AIPAC’s H.R. 1905, and despite ‘feel good’ further action by Congress on H.R. 1905, the Obama campaign says they gutted the AIPAC/Republican/Romney scheme while once more assuring Israel and its lobby of Obama’s willingness to use all his Constitutional powers on Israel’s behalf and to target its “existential threat” Iran.
According to two congressional insiders, the quick-witted maneuver by the Obama campaign is a key reason their candidate currently leads in the swing states of Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania while reminding the media that no presidential candidate since 1960 has won the White House without carrying two of these three states.
Meanwhile, Romney operatives are seeking alternative ways to convince Israel to maintain its support and cash for his campaign during the next nine weeks of what “Slick Jimmy” is calling, “American Democracy at work.”
