Are sanctions against Iran working? Um, no.

During Mitt Romney's visit to Israel's capital:

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Sunday told Romney in a Jerusalem meeting that diplomacy and sanctions leveled against Iran have not worked so far.

"I heard some of your remarks and you said that the greatest danger facing the world is the Ayatollah regime possessing nuclear weapons capability," Netanyahu said. "Mitt, I couldn't agree with you more, and I think it is important to do everything in our power to prevent the ayatollahs from possessing that capability. We have to be honest and say that all the diplomacy and sanctions and diplomacy so far have not set back the Iranian program by one iota."

Netanyahu said that a "strong and credible military threat coupled with sanctions" was needed to "have a chance to change the situation."

In response:

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta sent a tacit message to Israeli leaders on Monday, urging that diplomacy and economic pressure be given more time to work before they move ahead with any military strike on Iran.

In comments to reporters in Tunisia a day before he was to arrive in Jerusalem, Mr. Panetta said that economic sanctions against Iran were increasingly effective, although he acknowledged that they might not seem so.

'These sanctions are having a serious impact in terms of the economy of Iran.' He added that 'while the results of that may not seem obvious at the moment,' the Iranians had expressed a willingness to negotiate, and that they 'continue to seem interested in trying to find a diplomatic solution.' Mr. Panetta concluded that 'what we all need to do is continue the pressure on Iran.'

Although the sanctions have cut seriously into Iran's oil exports, and its currency has plunged by more than 40 percent against the dollar since last year, they have failed to force the country to stop enriching uranium. Negotiations aimed at getting Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions have stalled. Mr. Panetta and the Obama administration remain hopeful that a sweeping new round of sanctions imposed in June, meant to cut Iran off from the global oil market, will further increase the pressure.

It is beyond belief that this administration, after watching Iran's use of "diplomacy" over the years to buy more and more time, still believes that Iranians are interested in a diplomatic solution.

The fact is that the only US action that helped to delay Iran's nuclear program was not diplomacy or sanctions, but cyberwar, presumably via Stuxnet and perhaps other covert computer espionage. While delays are welcome, they are not a strategy to stop the program and they will not reduce the Iranian desire for nuclear weapons one bit.

And the last word has to go to the Wall Street Journal, which in early July revealed that even the latest round of economic sanctions are riddled with holes to allow Iran to withstand them:

Though economic sanctions still haven't slowed or stopped Iran's nuclear drive, the Obama Administration has decided to make them even weaker. The Iran sanctions regime is looking like the U.S. tax code'filled with loopholes.

It's so weak, in fact, that all 20 of Iran's major trading partners are now exempt from them. We've arrived at a kind of voodoo version of sanctions. They look real, insofar as Congress forced them into a bill President Obama had to sign in December. The Administration has spoken incantations about their powers. But if you're a big oil importer in China, India or 18 other major economies, the sanctions are mostly smoke.

This is possible because, thanks to lobbying by the Obama Administration, the sanctions law contained several loopholes you could drive a warhead through. One provided that if a country "significantly reduced" its oil imports from Iran, the State Department could exempt it from sanctions for a renewable period of six months. Naturally, the definition of a significant reduction was left to the Administration's discretion.

As of last week, we know that its definition is trifling: India earned a free pass after merely pledging to cut its Iran imports by 11%, and Japan earned one after cutting 22% of its Iranian business in 2011. Then there's China, the Islamic Republic's biggest customer, which is now exempt after cutting Iran imports by 25% between January and May (measured year-over-year).

The problem is that China's reduction is an apparent fluke, not a dedicated effort to reduce trade or isolate Iran economically. Imports fell by about 50% in February and March because a Chinese oil giant delayed the start of a contract over a price dispute. Once that was resolved, imports shot back up'by 34% between April and May, and again by 35% between May and June.

All this "is completely legitimate and justified," said a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, and "does not violate any U.N. Security Council resolutions or undermine the interests of a third party or the international community." So much for the Obama Administration's assertion last week that China-Iran trade shows "the success of our sanctions policy," as Beijing "supports our dual-track approach of diplomacy and pressure."

This fantastic claim follows years of Chinese troublemaking'via open opposition to U.S. and European Union sanctions, sales of sensitive nuclear-related technologies and materiel, currency schemes to avoid banking restrictions and more.

To be sure, Iran is feeling some pressure these days.... Iran is suffering real economic pain.

But enough pain to stop the 30-year nuclear drive of a revolutionary regime built around a messianic cult of martyrdom? A regime with foreign currency reserves between $60 billion and $100 billion, and which would net more than $40 billion in oil revenue even with a 40% drop in sales?

We've never considered sanctions likely to persuade Iran to drop its nuclear program, but it's dangerous to pursue them half-heartedly while claiming progress and keeping the international temperature down as Iran's centrifuges spin. That's been the Obama Administration's consistent approach, and it'll probably continue at least through Election Day in November. It's a good way to comfort adversaries in Tehran and Beijing while undermining friends in Jerusalem and beyond.

Scandal! Lebanese using Israeli cosmetics products! (updated)

Al Akhbar proudly published the results of an investigation that must have taken months, as they uncover the scandal of the century!

An investigation by the Campaign to Boycott Israel Supporters in Lebanon has exposed that Israeli-made products are being widely used in the beauty and cosmetics sector in Lebanon.

Therapeutic and cosmetic laser surgery is now an integral part of a booming medical tourism industry in Lebanon. Medical and beauty centers are sought after by locals and patients from the Arabian peninsula.

But unknown to most of these patients, the Lebanese market hosts a wide variety of medical equipment originating in Israel. These banned products make their way into the Lebanese market disguised as imports from the US, Europe, and Dubai. They are marketed through distributors who have no problem getting front seats at specialized conferences organized by the Lebanese health ministry.

The issue is under investigation and scrutiny by the Campaign to Boycott Israel Supporters in Lebanon, which found that the Lebanese market has been invaded by four such Israeli companies.

Boycott campaign activist Samah Idriss told Al-Akhbar that they had been working on the case for a long time, but did not want to slander distributors of Israeli products. Instead, he had met with them to warn them about the identity of these companies which tend to conceal their primary source or that they originate in Israel.

Idriss indicated that the campaign expects that the ministries of economy and health will seriously tackle the issue. They need to conduct a comprehensive survey to discover the amount and types of Israeli products in the cosmetic medicine sector in Lebanon, and confiscate them immediately.

The most famous of these companies is Syneron. Its products are available on the Lebanese market, as confirmed by its sole agent, Medica, located in Jal el-Dib with headquarters in Dubai.

Medica enjoys remarkable promotion for its Israeli products on many Lebanese stations, including MTV (Murr TV) and Sawt al-Mada radio station. The two outlets responded to a letter sent by the boycott campaign and vowed to stop broadcasting ads from the agents of such products.

Syneron was established by Shimon Eckhouse, a physicist who later specialized in medical technology. Its main headquarters are in the Yokneam Illit industrial zone in occupied Palestine, south of Haifa. It is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

It goes on like this for another 30 paragraphs or so, in exacting detail of every Israeli company and their aliases.

How outrageous to think that Lebanese women are beautifying themselves with Israeli products! Better they be ugly!

I'm really waiting for when these hypocritical groups - which are little more than small Facebook groups - will finally decide to boycott Microsoft, Intel, Apple and Google, and put themselves out of business.

Notice also that Al Akhbar, a liberal Arab newspaper, refers to Israel as "occupied Palestine."

The paper also has a very funny story that claims that Israel is siphoning off water from the Nile in South Sudan - without a single piece of evidence. (Israel signed a water infrastructure agreement with South Sudan last week. )

(h/t tall midget)

UPDATE: Commenter Zvi notes:

Key point: these are not simply cosmetics products. While the author of the article focused on cosmetic laser technology from Israel - no doubt because attacking high-value, life-saving Israeli technologies would risk alienating even their readers - Israeli medical products and technology includes many unique, world-class products at practical prices. Israel is one of a very small number of world leaders in the med-tech arena.

You should emphasize that these are MEDICAL products. As the article says, "the Lebanese market hosts a wide variety of medical equipment originating in Israel." The fact that some of this equipment, including laser equipment, is used for cosmetic purposes is a relatively minor detail.

In other words, Al-Akhbar and the campaign to boycott Israel are attempting to keep out of Lebanon MEDICAL PRODUCTS that benefit Lebanese people.

Furthermore, the article claims that Lebanese medical and cosmetic medicine practices are sought out by Arabs from other countries, calling medical tourism a "booming industry" in Lebanon. Lebanon's widespread use of the best technology available is evidently something that attracts foreigners to Lebanon, where they inject money into the local economy and provide jobs for Lebanese people, even during a bitter global recession. Lebanese doctors can evidently provide a better standard of care than doctors in wealthier, more conservative Arab states, in part because of their readiness to use the best modern equipment available.

Any sane person, organization or country would seek to make sure that Lebanese medical personnel have at their disposal the very best medical equipment available. No matter where the equipment comes from originally, the best medical equipment translates into better medical care for Lebanese people and cash flowing into Lebanon's economy from abroad. Both of these are distinct wins for Lebanese people and for Lebanon, and Lebanon should pursue its own best interests.

Al-Akhbar and the Lebanese boycott-Israel crowd, however, believe that asinine anti-Israel gestures are more important than the lives, health and comfort of ordinary Lebanese people, the effectiveness of Lebanese doctors or Lebanon's reputation for having a relatively modern and skilled medical establishment. For the boycotters, Lebanon's ONLY interest is to make pointless anti-Israel gestures.

Abbas continues to whine and doubletalk

Want to hear Mahmoud Abbas' latest howler?

Speaking to Turkey's Anadolu news agency, according to Palestine Press Agency, he criticized the US and whined that "the United States does not pay attention to the peace process at this time because of concern about the country's presidential election in November."

And what exactly has Abbas done to further the peace process?

Translating the whining into English, what he is really saying is that the US is not pressuring Israel to give in to all of Abbas' demands and preconditions before "negotiations" can even start. (His implication is that should Obama win, then things can get back to how they were before the campaign began, when Abbas was quite pleased with the US role in pressuring Israel.)

Which has been his entire strategy for years - wait and try to get the world to pressure Israel, rather than actually do anything that might involve making concessions or compromises.

Will this revealing bit of doubletalk that shows Abbas' hypocrisy make it into the mainstream media? Ha!

Unmarried couple in Mali stoned to death by Islamists

From Al Arabiya:

Islamists occupying the northern Mali town of Aguelhok stoned an unmarried couple to death in front of about 200 people on Sunday, two local government officials said.

'I was there. The Islamists took the unmarried couple to the center of Aguelhok. The couple was placed in two holes and the Islamists stoned them to death,' said a local government official on condition of anonymity.

'The woman fainted after the first few blows,' he said, adding that the man had shouted out once and then fallen silent.

A second official confirmed the information, saying the couple had two children, the youngest of which was six months old.

'They were living in the bush, they were brought to town by the Islamists who stoned them to death. People came out to watch, there were witnesses,' he said, also not wishing to be identified.

The small town in the region of Kidal near the Algerian border was one of the first to be captured by Tuareg separatists rebels on January 24.

Some 82 civilians and soldiers were summarily executed, France said earlier this year, accusing the rebels of using al-Qaeda style tactics.

The Tuareg rebellion sparked a coup d'etat in March by angry and overwhelmed soldiers, but the chaos only allowed the desert nomads and Islamists fighting on their flanks to seize the country's north, an area larger than France.

The Islamist groups, which experts say are acting under the aegis of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) have since chased out the Tuareg separatists and are firmly in control of the region.