Israel Matzav

The Rodney Dangerfield of American politics practices 'smart diplomacy'

President Obama can't get no respect in the 'international community.' One sign of that is the way that China has been jerking him around on the sanctions issue. John Lehman thinks he knows why.

One statesman entirely unsurprised by China’s holdout is John Lehman, the secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration and a member of the 9/11 Commission. Lehman tells National Review Online that Obama’s strategic handling of the summit was “so naïve as to be almost comical.”

“President Obama believes that diplomacy is the ultimate intellectual tool to solve world problems,” Lehman tells us. “What he doesn’t realize is that diplomacy is the shadow that is cast by a strong and capable military and an administration that knows how to use if effectively. It’s not some blunt instrument.”

Lehman says Obama’s struggle to convince China to support Iranian sanctions is due to China’s inability to believe Obama’s seriousness on the issue, “given his administration’s fawning and almost obsequious approach and attitude toward the Iranian government.” Both China and Iran “know that the president abjures the use of force or even the threat of force to achieve diplomacy, so they will continue to give the United Nations and the U.S. the slow roll.”

“Why should China pull our chestnuts out of the fire?” Lehman asks. “Iran is no threat to them. It’s naïve of the president to think that somehow he can create a common interest with China or somehow persuade them to bring pressure on Iran when Iran supplies a significant portion of its oil. When Iran is tying us in knots that actually suits the Chinese down to a T.”

If the consequences weren't so serious, it would almost be comical. Unfortunately, the consequences are very serious. And Obama got another slap in the face from China on Wednesday.

A state-owned Chinese refiner plans to ship 30,000 metric tons of gasoline to Iran after European traders halted shipments ahead of possible new UN sanctions, according to Singapore ship brokers.

Beijing has growing commercial and political ties with Iran and has resisted US pressure for sanctions to press Teheran to abandon its nuclear program. Chinese officials say the country is entitled to energy trade.

Unipec, the trading arm of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, plans to load the oil tanker Hongbo with the gasoline Thursday in Singapore, said the brokers, who asked not to be identified further to avoid jeopardizing customer relations.

They said the tanker will likely go directly to Iran.

The gasoline shipment suggests Chinese refiners are moving to fill the void left by European suppliers, who halted sales to Iran earlier this year.

30,000 metric tons sounds like a lot, but the truth is that it's not. However, the point here isn't the quantity. The point is that China has announced that if the US unilaterally imposes energy sanctions on Iran, China will circumvent them and Obama won't do a thing about it.

What could go wrong?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:12 PM