Punishing Iran, the US Will End in Failure

U.S. President Obama has signed on to the largest oil embargo against Iran in history and furthermore states that he will use legal methods to punish countries that continue to have economic contact with Iran. After China refused to comply with the U.S. sanctions against Iran, America punished a Chinese petroleum enterprise in an attempt to send a warning message to all the others. Their loud tone and their barbaric, hegemonic attitude stand out clearly. But America keeps starting wars, their material extravagance is immoderate and on top of that their domestic economy has been withering over the last several years. Though America can still call itself the world’s number one superpower, it has nonetheless lost the boldness that it possessed when the Soviet Union broke apart.

There is an old saying in China: If you don’t have a diamond cutter, then don’t take on porcelain work. This describes America’s current plight fairly well. The United States uses its power to try to infiltrate all of the continents and all of the countries of the world in order to grasp every country in the palm of its hand. Although it has the highest military expenditures in the world and has the world’s largest fleet of aircraft carriers and battleships — even though America appears to be huge — it seems, once it is absorbed into the vast territory of the world, weak and tiny like a drop of water.

If we regularly log onto the websites of the world’s developing countries, we may find to our surprise that there are a surprising number of countries and peoples who oppose America. The U.S. has only recently discovered that its overly expansive strategy has already made it hard for it to continue economically. This repentance for the decisions of a mistaken strategy may have already come a little too late. But America has no way to face the reality of its own feebleness, and it still maintains a cold war frame of mind. Regardless of whether it is directed at containing China or yelling at countries like Iran and Syria, in every case it seems as though they want to subdue the world with their own voices, but they don’t have the wisdom that the Chinese have, to mend the fold after the sheep have escaped.

They say that the dog that bites people doesn’t bark, and the dog that barks doesn’t bite. America seems more like the latter: a loud voice, but not necessarily a threat to others. In the eyes of the people of the world, modern-day America is just a giant with no arms. To speak of America as a “paper tiger,” as Mao Zedong did in his time, was to belittle the U.S. out of resentment. But present-day America’s gnashing of teeth and brandishing of claws makes it clear that it is already a spent force. The U.S. punishes Iran, but doesn’t feel the need to match the militant approach adopted by its own ally, Israel. This shows all the more clearly that they themselves are powerless to adapt and escape from the conflicted mentality of their glorious history. In terms of imposing economic sanctions on Iran, the U.S. tries to make the sanctions fly, but if one looks at the results, it is more that America still has delusions about its own strength and self-confidence. Because of this self-confidence, America is slow to make a military move against Iran and relies instead on displays of international resolve to compel Iran to surrender and concede. But reality isn’t like this; when the Americans wake up to find, to their surprise, that this is a shattered dream, they will precipitate the most dangerous moment in the Middle East. They will be like the peacock that tried to display its tail feathers, but exposed instead its own dirty buttocks. In frustration and exasperation, America might make a military move simply to display its military strength and strike at Iran without considering the consequences.

If the U.S. strikes Iran, it might achieve a victory, but what will it prove? If war breaks out, it will make the current position of America’s strength all the more clear. Though it has the power to subdue its opponents, it no longer has the power and capital to impress others. The eyes of the people of the world are quite clear, and America’s decline is like the turning of the wheel of history, which neither manpower nor physical resources can stop. Iran has already withstood 18 years of Western sanctions; this round of sanctions will amount to nothing more than a little rain and a lot of thunder. This round of sanctions is nothing more than America looking at itself in the mirror and reflecting on how much or how little international capability it still has left.

In terms of sanctions on Iran, countries like China, Russia and Pakistan won’t cooperate with the U.S. But the author does not believe this is the most fatal roadblock to U.S. sanctions on Iran. Instead, the roadblocks will come from America’s “good friends.”

India: This is America’s partner in containing China. From a historical perspective, and in accordance with the realities of international politics, India would not only confront Pakistan, with which it is involved in a border dispute, but moreover would confront its increasingly powerful Chinese neighbor. For the U.S. and India, it would be a win-win. It seems like a strategic idea that would be very attractive to India, making it not at all difficult to form an American-Indian alliance. However, India opposed an alliance with America aimed at imposing sanctions on Iran, saying no from the beginning. Having surpassed China as the largest importer of Iranian oil, they officially frown on U.S. sanctions against Iran. In its dealings with Iran, the Indian government is increasingly making allowances and helping Iran to get around the American sanctions. This despite the fact that the U.S. took significant measures to persuade India to impose sanctions on Iran, such as energetically helping India to connect with countries that could replace its lost oil. Qatar and Saudi Arabia have already promised to make up for the oil deficit that India would experience as a result of the sanctions. On March 9, when India’s new minister of energy met with the president of Iran, they called for both countries to strengthen their bilateral relations and economic cooperation, in particular their cooperation in the area of renewable resources. This piece of news is enough to show that, with regard to America asking India to impose sanctions on Iran, India will not only refuse to consider it, but will go beyond making oil its sole point of economic contact and establish even more multifaceted, wide-ranging and deep economic and official cooperation.

Turkey: A member of NATO, it is the fortified bridgehead from which the Western countries peer at Southeast Asia and Central Asia. According to a Feb. 13 report on an Iranian English-language TV news station, Turkey would never condone military action against Iran. In a Reuters Dubai/Istanbul wire report from Feb. 14, a Saudi oil official said that, when Turkish energy officials paid an official visit to Riyadh last week, there was no request for an additional supply of oil. “Turkey did not ask for more oil, and has no plan to ban imports from Iran.” Turkey, a member of NATO, not only rejected the U.S. war, but when it came to punishing Iran, they furthermore shut the door in America’s face.

Because of Turkey’s fairly hard-line stance toward the government of Syria, they supported the Syrian opposition. They have also had a NATO radar system built within their territory. What can America do against this forceful rejection by an ally that the U.S. needs so badly?

Egypt: Egypt’s military are Americanophiles, as everyone already knows, and to this day America still sends military aid to Egypt. The former Egyptian president was also an Americanophile, but he wasn’t careful, and got burned by America’s “Arab Spring.”

The Egyptian media published a report yesterday saying that the Muhammad Abu Hamid, a member of parliament from the Free Egyptians Party, emphasized that there was nothing to prevent Egypt from re-establishing and expanding its relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. He said that most legislators wanted to reinstate strategic relations with Iran, and moreover they criticized the government, saying that, as an Islamic nation, they should not continue to maintain relations with the Zionist regime of Israel.

Iraq: The former president that could not live under the same sky with Iran has already been overthrown by America; the present one shares the same Shia sect with Iran and is close to the Iranian regime.

These countries have interests in common with the U.S., but on the issue of sanctions against Iran, they stand, in the end, opposite America. On one hand, this implies the near end of an older era, when America could call up wind and rain and overwhelm everything. American hegemony is unwilling to see the advent of a multipolar world, but the U.S. has no way to avoid it. In reality, that might be a good thing for America and for the people of the world. On the other hand, these allies and quasi-allies of the U.S. could all cause America some difficulty. Punishing these countries could make the alliances fall apart and unravel popular sentiment. If they are not punished, these countries might become a model of action for others and lead to a domino effect, making many countries rally around Iran. Beyond punishing Iran, it has created a real response: Rising oil prices have already caused Obama’s approval rating to fall below 50 percent.

The U.S. has repeatedly made strategic mistakes because it has been fooled by the facade of its own strength. In the end, the stone they lift up will smash their own foot. Maybe the failure of the economic sanctions will lead to a war in the Middle East, but America is doomed to fail in its embargo of Iran. What is terrifying is that America’s jingoistic mindset is still powerful in domestic politics, and these clumsy and unselfconscious politicians are enough to accelerate the speed of a huge downfall. What the U.S. loses may be its crown as the world’s policeman.