The senate finance committee held a hearing today discussing the "S.970, the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007." The panel was consisted of Philip Gordon, senior fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution, Orde Kittrie, visiting associate professor at the University of Maryland, school of Law, William A. Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council and lastly Danielle Pletka, vice president of Foreign and Defense Policy at the American Enterprise Institute.
The panel discussed the advantages and the disadvantages of the S.970 bill, which introduces the Iranian Nuclear sanctions; it also includes prohibition of exports to Iran. Although the panel consisted of both critics and supporters of the bill, they all highlighted the seriousness of the nuclear development in Iran. They introduced different means of approaching to the problem, professor Kittrie, for instance, urged the bill to be passed by the Senate and stressed the fact that the bill is the only way of stopping Iran from further nuclear development. He added by saying that the economic situation of Iranians, as a result of the bill, is the fault of their government.
Mr. Reinsch, on the other hand, expressed his concerns of passing the S.970 stressing that it may lead to a war. In his opinion, balancing the situation will make the U.S. stay strong. He even said that direct diplomacy with Iran is the key to finding a solution. In addition to that, in Reinsch's perspective the S.970 will "withdraw the international attention from the core problem".
As the hearing went on, Ms Pletka raised an awareness of the consequences of a dialogue; she said "a dialogue too often means negotiations" and continued by asking the members of the Senate whether or not they are ready to trade something with Iran. Mr. Gordon stressed the fact that Iran is not a Saddam Hussein Iraq and thus matters should be analyzed and act upon accordingly.
"Iran is not a Saddam Hussein Iraq"
The panel was consisted of Philip Gordon, senior fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution, Orde Kittrie, visiting associate professor at the University of Maryland, school of Law, William A. Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council and lastly Danielle Pletka, vice president of Foreign and Defense Policy at the American Enterprise Institute.
The panel discussed the advantages and the disadvantages of the S.970 bill, which introduces the Iranian Nuclear sanctions; it also includes prohibition of exports to Iran. Although the panel consisted of both critics and supporters of the bill, they all highlighted the seriousness of the nuclear development in Iran. They introduced different means of approaching to the problem, professor Kittrie, for instance, urged the bill to be passed by the Senate and stressed the fact that the bill is the only way of stopping Iran from further nuclear development. He added by saying that the economic situation of Iranians, as a result of the bill, is the fault of their government.
Mr. Reinsch, on the other hand, expressed his concerns of passing the S.970 stressing that it may lead to a war. In his opinion, balancing the situation will make the U.S. stay strong. He even said that direct diplomacy with Iran is the key to finding a solution. In addition to that, in Reinsch's perspective the S.970 will "withdraw the international attention from the core problem".
As the hearing went on, Ms Pletka raised an awareness of the consequences of a dialogue; she said "a dialogue too often means negotiations" and continued by asking the members of the Senate whether or not they are ready to trade something with Iran. Mr. Gordon stressed the fact that Iran is not a Saddam Hussein Iraq and thus matters should be analyzed and act upon accordingly.