# U.S. imposes new sanctions on Iran, designates Quds Force "terrorist" org **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 25, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040 "2007-10-25T21:55:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/1 "2007-10-25T21:55:31Z")
Story [here.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/25/AR2007102501006.html?hpid=topnews) > [@](#): > > The Bush administration announced an unprecedented package of unilateral sanctions against Iran today, including the long-awaited designations of its Revolutionary Guard Corps as a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction and of the elite Quds Force as a supporter of terrorism. > > The package, announced jointly by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., marks the first time that the United States has tried to isolate or punish another country’s military. It is the broadest set of punitive measures imposed on Tehran since the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy, and included a call for other countries and firms to stop doing business with three major Iranian banks. Designating a branch of a recognized government’s military as a “terrorist” organization is breaking new ground, to say the least. One wonders what actual **action** this might portend . . . Of course, in most cases – not all (see South Africa), but most – sanctions on a country just seem to annoy everybody and make life harder for a few without changing anything. Especially if they’re **unilateral** sanctionas and the international community doesn’t go along with them. Just ask Fidel. Madame Secretary, just who are you trying to scare – the Iranians, or the Americans?! I can’t help thinking this whole thing is only meant to keep our people in a high state of fear and tension that will remain unresolved indefinitely. Actually, that’s what I **hope** it means; every other possibility is too horrible to contemplate. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/2 "2007-10-25T21:58:09Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Designating a branch of a recognized government’s military as a “terrorist” organization is breaking new ground, to say the least. One wonders what actual **action** this might portend . . . [/QUOTE] Nothing that would count as a war, because those who think of themselves as all-knowing will then declare that any action short of American Troops in Tehran wouldn’t count as a war. Of course, taking down a couple buildings from several thousand miles away probably doesn’t count as war, either. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/3 "2007-10-25T22:02:22Z")
[GD thread on the same story.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=441575) ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/4 "2007-10-25T22:20:32Z")
Not to worry. Bush is headed to California. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/5 "2007-10-25T22:22:25Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Designating a branch of a recognized government’s military as a “terrorist” organization is breaking new ground, to say the least. [/QUOTE] Why? We’ve designated the whole country of Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism for as long as that label as existed. It isn’t like this condemnation of this particular organization is a new thing. In 2000, the State Department’s Patterns of Global Terrorism called out the Revolutionary Guard Corps as being involved in terrorism: “Iran Despite the victory for moderates in Iran’s Majles elections in February, aggressive countermeasures by hardline conservatives have blocked most reform efforts. Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism in 2000. Its Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) continued to be involved in the planning and the execution of terrorist acts and continued to support a variety of groups that use terrorism to pursue their goals.” [Link.](http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2000/2441.htm)I think going to war against Iran would be stupid. I am concerned about Iran developing nuclear weapons. I think diplomacy is the way to handle it. If part of Iran’s government is heavily involved in terrorism, it seems to me Iran has made its own bed in that regard. If this designation is part of a carrot-and-stick strategy to negotiating an end to the nuclear dispute, it is a great idea. If it is a prelude to war it is a terrible idea. There’s no way to know for sure which category it falls into at this moment, but I don’t believe it is foreshadowing war, because I believe war is but a remote possibility. I hope that it’s part of a diplomatic effort, and yet I’m not sure this Administration could coordinate a sustained effort to order a Happy Meal at McDonalds. ---
**Author:** ![Zambini57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4491bb/32.png) [@Zambini57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zambini57)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/6 "2007-10-25T22:32:06Z")
“Quds Force”? That’s a funny name. Other than that, I couldn’t care less. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/7 "2007-10-25T22:35:46Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Not to worry. Bush is headed to California. [/QUOTE] Soon to be a burning bush. Yuk, yuk. Um … okay, nevermind … ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/8 "2007-10-25T22:38:07Z")
From the 2001 AUMF, emphasis added: > [@](#): > > Whereas, the President has authority under the Constitution to take action to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States: > > […] > > a) IN GENERAL- That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons **he determines** planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, **in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons**. Congress wrote a blank check in 2001, thanks to a loophole so big you could deploy an army through it. Given a thoughtful, restrained administration this wouldn’t be a big deal, but the U.S. currently has an administration which chafes at even the slightest hint of limits to executive power. They’re not going to go cap in hand to Congress before declaring war on whomever they damned well want to, not if they have an alternative. Declaring foreign armies as terrorist organizations is just the logical conclusion given these actors on this stage. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/9 "2007-10-25T23:19:46Z")
[Rosa Brooks nails it on the head.](http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-brooks24oct25,0,7749742.column?coll=la-util-opinion-commentary) ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/10 "2007-10-25T23:57:45Z")
I don’t really have much to say on this pit thread that I haven’t said in the GD thread but I wanted to make a comment from the GD thread here based on this: [QUOTE=RedFury] Please, 'luc. I usually listen to you and your advices, especially when you tell me I’m getting out of line. But seriously, I no longer get your “hopes” about xt “coming around” when it comes to the USA (no matter who’s in charge or doing what) and doing wrong. I mean, if nothing else, his arguments mirror those of a professional apologist – no matter if they are insulting to his own countrymen/women. [/QUOTE] I just wanted to say that I hope you get better sometime Red. Seriously, it’s not a good thing to go off your meds like that. Also…consider upping the voltage, ehe? -XT ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/11 "2007-10-26T00:01:47Z")
But…you are a complete apologist. Whether you actually get paid for it, only you and your handlers know. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/12 "2007-10-26T00:03:21Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] [Rosa Brooks nails it on the head.](http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-brooks24oct25,0,7749742.column?coll=la-util-opinion-commentary) [/QUOTE] [Putin nailed it](http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-7024292,00.html) well too: > [@](#): > > "It’s not the best way to resolve the situation by running around like a madman with a razor blade in his hand.‘’ ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/13 "2007-10-26T00:04:31Z")
Yeah…'cause my posts are so good someone would be willing to pay me to post my thoughts on this board. 😛 Ok…I do get paid. But mostly I get checks to not post too often or use too many smileys. I also am paid not to post any pictures of myself in a speedo… -XT ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/14 "2007-10-26T01:32:40Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Putin nailed it well too: And there were some interesting speculations by [Paul Starr](http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_iran_wedge) about whether it might be ultimately a political ploy (I posted this in the GD thread too): > [@](#): > > Until recently, I had thought that an attack on Iran, besides being strategically reckless for America, would be politically suicidal for the Republican Party. I am still convinced an attack would be reckless for the country, but I am beginning to see how it could work for the GOP. […] > > The whole idea of the attack makes more sense as an attempt to revive the political dynamics that worked so well for the Republicans in 2002 and 2004, when they turned public anxiety about Islamist terrorism to their advantage, while dividing the Democrats and throwing them on the defensive and off their own issues. An attack on Iran could do the same. […] > > As Zbigniew Brzezinski told [Seymour] Hersh, “The name of our game seems to be to get the Iranians to overplay their hand.” > > In the wake of an Iranian response – imagine a terrorist attack in an American city – there would be a public clamor for U.S. retaliation. That clamor might then allow an all-out attack against Iran’s nuclear sites, which is what I assume Bush and Cheney are really after. > > Such a sequence of events, while not without political risks to the Republicans, could wreak havoc on the Democrats. […] > > To be sure, an American attack could boomerang. It might strengthen the Iranian regime by generating a nationalist reaction within the country, cast the regime in a heroic light throughout the Islamic world, unleash a wave of terrorism against the United States, aggravate our difficulties in Iraq, and entangle us in a regional war indefinitely. Some analysts think these risks to both the republic and the Republican Party are so great that George Bush will ultimately decline to order an attack. But the Republicans are playing a very weak hand, and this may be their best gamble to retain power. I’m not sure whether the American people would really think that the same party who brought us the current mess in Iraq are the best people to entrust with handling a military adventure in Iran. But I could see how some Republicans, at least, might be willing to gamble on it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/15 "2007-10-26T04:07:38Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] [Rosa Brooks nails it on the head.](http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-brooks24oct25,0,7749742.column?coll=la-util-opinion-commentary) [/QUOTE] IOW, she agrees with you. Color me unimpressed. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/16 "2007-10-26T04:33:35Z")
What can he do in a year? All we have to do is distract the president with one of those “how do you keep an idiot busy for a long time? (answer on back)” cards for another 12 months, and he wont have the time to do something stupid like launch missiles at Iran. It’s foolproof! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/17 "2007-10-26T05:11:02Z")
[QUOTE=Mosier] What can he do in a year? All we have to do is distract the president with one of those “how do you keep an idiot busy for a long time? (answer on back)” cards for another 12 months, and he wont have the time to do something stupid like launch missiles at Iran. It’s foolproof! [/QUOTE] But… but… Bush is teh suXxor!! Get with the program, man!! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/18 "2007-10-26T15:14:50Z")
[Strike on Iraq would roil oil markets, experts say.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/25/AR2007102502840.html?hpid=topnews) In other news: Benedict XVI suspected of crypto-Catholic tendencies. Naturalists posit ursine waste component in forest soil composition. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/19 "2007-10-26T15:42:44Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] [Strike on Iraq would roil oil markets, experts say.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/25/AR2007102502840.html?hpid=topnews) In other news: Benedict XVI suspected of crypto-Catholic tendencies. Naturalists posit ursine waste component in forest soil composition. [/QUOTE] Exactly. You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040/20 "2007-10-26T17:52:06Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] I just wanted to say that I hope you get better sometime Red. Seriously, it’s not a good thing to go off your meds like that. Also…consider upping the voltage, ehe? [/QUOTE] Ah! Touched a nerve, little one, didn’t I? Why don’t you call the waaaahmbulance? Sneaky little post BTW. Don’t have the cojones to open-up a proper Pit thread, do you? Blow it out your ass, _ **apologist!** _ And up _[this](http://blarneyfellow.files.wordpress.com/2006/11/20060120-steam_dildo.jpg)_ into it while you’re at it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-iran-designates-quds-force-terrorist-org/424040.md?page=2)