That's NOT The Same Thing...
Published by BG on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 6:56 AM.Iran says won't rule out using oil as a weapon | International | Reuters
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will not rule out using oil as a weapon if the United States resorts to military action against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program, an Iranian oil official said in remarks published on Tuesday.
"When the Americans say that military action in regard to the nuclear issue has not been put aside, Iran can also say that it will not put aside oil as a tool," Iran's OPEC governor, Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, told Iran's Sharq newspaper.
Let me make sure I understand this... We're putting pressure on Iran to stop whatever it is we're accusing them of doing. They are either claiming they aren't doing anything wrong (supplying arms to "insurgents" or "terrorists"), or have the right to do what it is they're doing (continuing with their nuclear engineering). Our leaders are beating the war drums and are pointing towards an incorrigible Iran as a country that must be dealt with, most likely through the business end of a bunch of cruise missiles...
...but if we bomb them, or continue to exert international pressure, we expect them to continue to sell us oil? We expect them to not use the one leverage point they have in their favor in the face of all of these demands?
This isn't news, it's how things work in the world. Hell, if we invaded China, we'd probably do it in the face of poison toothpaste embargoes, and Americans would simply have to sacrifice.
But to assert to the lazy that Iran is using oil as a "weapon?" No, unacceptable. They are using it as a leverage point, and that's clearly not the same thing. Besides, using oil as a weapon is irretrievably messy, and certainly not something you want to do if your soldiers are the ones who'll have to clean up the collateral damage.
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