The EU said that if the UN does not impose sanctions on Iran ,that the EU would impose them on it's own or if it imposes sanctions that are too weak .
This news is from an analysis by Startfor ;a usually reliable intel analysist organization (subscription only.. no link)

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Diplomats from the United Kingdom, France and Germany said in Washington on Dec. 13 the European Union will impose its own sanctions against Iran if the U.N. Security Council fails to act or passes a weak resolution, the Jerusalem Post reported. The diplomats, speaking at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the recent U.S. intelligence assessment on Iran would hardly change European policy toward the country.

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What does the above statement reveal about the European assessment of the recent NIE report about Iran's nuclear program ?

Why would they impose sanctions on a nation that is converting it's oil payments to Euros? Is this about oil as some have suggested ;or the continuing threat Iran poses on the Middle East ;and with their developing missile program, a nuclear threat to Europe ?

We got the truth about Iran's Nuclear program. The only clear and present danger is that Iran will flood the market with cheap oil. He and Chavez have both warned they will if Bushwhacker doesn't behave. That would make our already hyperinflated petro dollars cheaper that Charmin. Way cheaper.

Why would the "flood the market with cheap oil ? They fund their jack-booted regimes ;along with Putin ,with high priced petrol money . Your argument makes no sense. In fact it is completely faulty . Both Chavez and the Mahdi-hatter have said they want to push oil up to $200 /bbl. Both of them are windbags full of bravado with nothing to back it up.

Well then you tell us why. Also tell us who the Jackboots really are while you are at it.

The resolution orders all countries to ban the supply of specified materials and technology that could contribute to Iran's nuclear and missile programmes. It also imposes an asset freeze on key companies and individuals involved in the programmes named on a UN list.

They grew a spine? They finally realize there is really a war going on in the world and they are targets too.

Unlike the American Democrats whose misguided thinking wants to block 70% percent of the intelligence budget from being spent until the House and Senate intelligence committees get briefed on Israel's September air strike on an apparent nuclear facility in Syria. Who want to make fighting the global war on terror as difficult as possible and take away the tools necessary to protect Americans.

Greatest Oil Reserves by Country, 2006
Rank Country Proved reserves
(billion barrels)
1. Saudi Arabia 264.3
2. Canada 178.8
3. Iran 132.5
4. Iraq 115.0
5. Kuwait 101.5
6. United Arab Emirates 97.8
7. Venezuela 79.7
8. Russia 60.0
9. Libya 39.1
10. Nigeria 35.9
11. United States 21.4
12. China 18.3
13. Qatar 15.2
14. Mexico 12.9
15. Algeria 11.4
16. Brazil 11.2
17. Kazakhstan 9.0
18. Norway 7.7
19. Azerbaijan 7.0
20. India 5.8

Tell me they do not have the power to flood the world with cheap oil which would bring our economy to its knees. You know that action would have serious implications on the U.S. dollar. If our economy was based on what is best for the consumer, oil would still be a $1.50 a gallon. Our dollars are really priced in oil and oil is priced in dollars. Now Iran wants their oil priced in Euros so they will not take a hit when the dollar dumps. That is why Bush has appealed to the EU and the UN. To dead lock them. Yes, we do have a war going on fur sure.

Israel's security minister criticized the recent U.S. National Security Estimate that suggested Iran halted its nuclear arms program years ago.

"U.S. misconceptions regarding Iran could bring about another Yom Kippur War in our region," said Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter. "We were unable to convince the U.S. of the immediacy and proximity of the Iranian nuclear threat."

Israeli official faults U.S. Iran report - UPI.com

Israel is a Zionist state and the Zionist spoon feed the NeoCon agenda. Israel is illegally occupying Palestine and having their own holocaust upon the unarmed Palestinian people. Tell me the truth, not Zionist lies.

YouTube - Anti-Zionist Jewish Protestors

The NIE before the Iraq war is pretty much like the NIE before the Korean war. Wrong! I do believe Iran has a nuke program but how can we really say how far along it is or its intended purpose when the highest security report flip flops on the issue? Do you think they are a reliable enough source to start WWIII? I don't want WWIII and I don't think you do either and really not over oil. I do believe the bottom line here is oil. That's just my opinion.
Having said that, I really do believe someone has embedded spies in the Iranian government that know the real deal. Why then is there so much that appears to be unknown and so much uncertainty?

Magprob

You are coorect that the supply of the oil on that market affects the price. It is ridiculous to suggest that cheap oil would hurt the US economy. It is runs counter to your very argument that the price has been dependent solely on the value of the US dollar.

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When the price of oil falls I will base it on a dollar that has reevaluated to a higher worth by the reduction of inflation. That is why the oil is so high, inflation of the dollar. Prices are higher for everything because of inflation.

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Please explain how cheap oil could possibly hurt the US ? You say yourself that the US would be better off at a pump price of $1.50.

They threaten to raise the price not lower it.

Even if they stopped selling it to the US it would not have an impact because the oil would flow from somewhere else. Only if OPEC stopped the flow would there be a significant impact... And even that would not be as severe as the boycotts of the 1970s. I assure you Russian and Canadian oil would still flow.


I choose to not address " Zionist run US foreign policy " tinfoil hat conspiracy theories. Do you think that the reports that an illegal nuclear facility in Syria was not destroyed by Israel is a lie too ?

DC

The EU had to get their heads out of the sand eventually. Even with appeasers like Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schröder in France and Germany the EU was leading the Wests negotiations to stop the Iranian nuclear program . They have always supported the UN sanctions but the UN is unwilling to do anything about it due to Russian and Chinese interference.

Perhaps they realize that they have the means to defend themselves from external threats. Perhaps their spine will further solidify to a point that they start spending some of their growing economic clout on their militaries.They really need to be able to muster more than 1,800 policemen, judges and administrators when a crisis threatens in their own backyard.EUobserver.com

I for one am tired of the US military defending German beer halls.

The Proposed Iranian Oil Bourse | EnergyBulletin.net | Peak Oil News Clearinghouse

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Originally Posted by tomder55

I for one am tired of the US military defending German beer halls.

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Now wait a minute here. I was stationed in Germany and I had a wonderful time defending those beer halls! :D

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Originally Posted by Dark_crow

They grew a spine? They finally realize there is really a war going on in the world and they are targets too.

Unlike the American Democrats whose misguided thinking wants to block 70% percent of the intelligence budget from being spent until the House and Senate intelligence committees get briefed on Israel's September air strike on an apparent nuclear facility in Syria. Who want to make fighting the global war on terror as difficult as possible and take away the tools necessary to protect Americans.

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Separately, Syria responded to US sanctions against two of its banks by confirming plans to use euros instead of dollars for its external transactions.

Syria has switched the state's foreign currency transactions to euros from dollars, the head of the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria, Duraid Durgham, said.

Last week the White House told US financial institutions to terminate all correspondent accounts involving the Commercial Bank of Syria because of money-laundering concerns. Mohammad al-Hussein, Syria's finance minister, said: "Syria affirms that this decision and its timing are fundamentally political."

My, My. Isn't it just amazing how closely tied we are to England? The bank of England? Since 1913 perhaps? Have we ever really been "Out from underneath the Crown?"

Credit crisis: A million Britons struggle to meet mortgage payments | the Daily Mail

First off, the EU has apparently seen whatever it was that Israel attacked in September in Syria, and are still scared spitless of whatever it was. That the EU is talking such harsh rhetoric collectively means that whatever it was is REALLY scary, and they don't want Iran to have it, whatever it is. Thus the tough talk on sanctions against Iran.

Second, the idea that cheap oil would hurt the USA is kind of ridiculous. One of the arguments being made today is that the cost of oil is driving up the costs of all our goods and causing inflation. Bringing the price of oil down would reverse that trend.

Also, while Iran could flood the market with crude, they can't do anything to the world's supply of refined oil. Because there are limits to the world's refinery capacity, even if the market were flooded with crude, the cost of refined oil would remain high (albeit lower than it currently is), because there will still be limits on the amounts of refined that can be produced at any one time. In fact, the curent high prices of heating oil and gasoline are more due to the lack of refinery capacity than the lack of crude. Putting more crude out to the market won't really have much affect on that fact. It certainly would not "bring the world economy to its knees".

As for the idea of an Iranian oil-boarse that sells in currencies other than US dollars... I've already explained how it doesn't make a difference to the US economy one way or the other. It's a non-issue. Iran has been pushing for a non-dollar oil-boarse for over 20 years. It still hasn't happened. And even if it did, it wouldn't affect anything.

Elliot

I don't expect you to agree with anything that is counter to the neocon agenda. You know which side your bread is buttered on. Anything that goes deeper than the political posturing (switcho-chango-smoke and mirrors) on the television seems to upset you. Your harsh, swooping down on the opinions of others does not bother me though. That is a normal Jackboot trait we have come to understand.

BTW, NeoCon is just another name for something much more ominous. More smoke and mirrors, switch-o change-o.

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Anything that goes deeper than the political posturing (switcho-chango-smoke and mirrors) on the television seems to upset you.

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It is the MSM ;the alphabet soup networks who are sticking to the non-sense in the NIE.

The truth is that Iran had a secret nuclear weapons program that was disclosed by Alireza Jafarzadeh of the MeK in 2002 . The NIE reported that a year later after the IAEA began to investigate the charge Iran suspended the program which was operating in a northeast district of Tehran. The truth is that they only temporarily suspended the program to move it to various concealed sites.They razed the buildings, removed the soil down to 6 feet , cut down the trees and allowed the IAEA to inspect the Lavizan-Shian site . Of course with the site properly scrubbed the IAEA found nothing .

A year later it was back up and running at a new sites.
What I don't understand is why the Bush Adm. Is a part of this charade. They know this but they are still playing along with the ridiculous assertion that Iran is not planning on weaponizing their plutonium when they get sufficient centrifuges whirling to produce sufficient amts.

No, the truth is that you two are now giving me the good cop, bad cop routine. You wouldn't know the truth if it fell out of the sky, landed on your face and started wigglin.