As it turns out, in relation to Iran, economic sanctions have been the option of last resort as various actors deluded themselves into believing that they could talk the mullahs of Tehran into abandoning their drive for nuclear weapons.
And now, years after sanctions might have been able to have the time to have an impact (however unlilkely that would be given the decades Iran has had to practice evading sanctions), it is recognized that sanctions have only a chance at this point to work:
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday it was time for the international community to rally together to put significant pressure on Iran to abandon its nuclear program and expressed optimism that, given time, tougher sanctions would work.
"Given time." There's the rub, eh? The international community, with the pillars of China and Russia wielding the Security Council veto, have taken time rather than given it.
Which means that soon we'll be discussing the new option of last resort--learning to love the Iranian bomb.
Have a lovely Super Bowl Sunday.
