United Against Nuclear Iran has sent a questionnaire and pledge to 17 Republican candidates and to President Obama. The questionnaire asks for the candidates' positions on the Iranian nuclear threat, while the two-sentence pledge asks them to commit to "take all necessary action through diplomacy, sanctions, covert action and if necessary the military to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear-armed state." I can think of one candidate who won't want to sign this.
The high-profile organization submitted 17 questions to President Obama and each of the Republican candidates on Friday. They touch on subjects ranging from whether to classify Iran as a wartime enemy, to how to convince China and Russia to take part in punitive sanctions against the country.
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“UANI is hoping to provide voters with a clear and unambiguous understanding of the candidates’ positions on the danger of a nuclear-armed Iran, and how they would act if elected president,” Nathan Carleton, the organization’s spokesman, told The Daily Caller. “With one exception, all of the candidates have at various times spoke about this danger, and we are now asking them to fully commit to doing whatever it takes if elected president to stop Iran’s nuclear pursuit.”
“We are also asking them to state their position on various sanctions that the Obama administration has yet to implement, such as sanctioning Iran’s Central Bank and requiring companies to fully disclose their Iran business,” he continued.
The full questionnaire is here. Anyone want to bet that Obama votes "present"?
The next time you travel, you may want to stay in a hotel other than a Marriott. In Hamburg, Germany on Monday, a conference called the Iran Business Forum took place. The conference, which was organized by Berlin-based IPCGmbH, addressed “investment possibilities in the northwestern provinces of Iran.” The program listed Iran’s ambassador to Germany, Ali Reza Sheikh Attar, as the keynote speaker.
Iranian Kurds and human rights groups say Attar sanctioned a massacre of Iranian Kurds during his tenure as governor of the Kurdistan and West Azarbaijan provinces from 1980 to 1985.
In a letter faxed to Marriott’s CEO, J.W. Marriott Jr., [United Against a Nuclear Iran] UANI President Mark D. Wallace wrote, “Ambassador Attar represents a criminal regime that flouts international law in developing an illegal nuclear weapon, brutally represses its own people, and is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.”
UANI called on Marriott to cancel the pro-Iran trade event.
“If the Marriott continues with its plans to serve as a host to the Iran Business Forum and Ambassador Attar, UANI will take action against the Marriott hotel chain worldwide. UANI will call on its activists to peacefully protest your properties, and will call for a general public boycott of all Marriott properties, “ wrote Wallace.
Wallace noted in his letter, “Rest assured we do not seek to harm any business gratuitously, but understand that the danger that a nuclear-armed Iran poses to national and international security is too great to ignore.
“Your decision to facilitate an event dedicated to increasing the level of economic cooperation between Germany and Iran runs directly counter to the efforts of the international community to isolate the Iranian regime,” he wrote.
The local chapters of UANI and Stop the Bomb held a protest outside the hotel.
Let's go to the videotape.
Spokespeople for Marriott gave all the usual lame excuses - business is business. There's much more about this story here.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
United Against Nuclear Iran has sent a questionnaire and pledge to 17 Republican candidates and to President Obama. The questionnaire asks for the candidates' positions on the Iranian nuclear threat, while the two-sentence pledge asks them to commit to "take all necessary action through diplomacy, sanctions, covert action and if necessary the military to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear-armed state." I can think of one candidate who won't want to sign this. 
