Obama Doesn't Even Know What The Goal Is With Iran

Despite all the evidence that sanctons don't work (we already have 6 pages worth of sanctions against Iran) the Obama administration continues to push for additional targeted sanctions against Iran. Shockingly they think that the goal is to get Iran to negotiate and to avoid war rather than stop Iran from going nuclear:

But “isolating” a country diplomatically does not necessarily translate into changing its behavior. North Korea, Cuba and Myanmar have been economically isolated for decades, with little effect.

“The history of sanctions suggests it is nearly impossible to craft them to compel a government to change on an issue it sees as vital to national security,” said Richard N. Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations. “They can affect a government’s calculations, but it’s no solution.”

That was certainly the Bush administration’s experience. Starting in 2006, the United States led the drive at the United Nations Security Council to pass ever escalating economic sanctions.

The list of sanctions is now six pages long. But none have accomplished the central goal: forcing compliance with the Security Council’s demand that Iran halt uranium enrichment. Mr. Obama’s team acknowledges the potential political liability of passing a fourth round that proves equally ineffective. Some are scaling back expectations for what they once called “crippling sanctions.”

“This is about driving them back to negotiations,” said one senior official, “because the real goal here is to avoid war.”