The deafening sound of empty words

Dick Cheney jut said that Iran would face “meaningful consequences” if it doesn’t stop its nuclear   program. Unfortunately, Iran isn’t going to take seriously Cheney because he doesn’t scare anybody anymore. Moreover, Iran knows that the options of the US are limited while it has many cards it can play the most important of which are Oil and Iraq. The trouble with Cheney’s words is not just that they are empty, but that that they are so vague that they should how powerless the West really is in front of Iran. If Cheney wanted to be taken seriously, he should have been blunter (like he usually is) and should have enumerated the specific consequences Iran would faced if it doesn’t curb its nuclear ambitions. Christopher Hitchens has a list of options, and Cheney should have picked one of them and said to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "hey this is what we would do if you don't stop." But the trouble is that the India exception which was created last week by the historic accord between India and the US (which was a good thing in my opinion) makes it more easy for Iran to argue that  the issue is not the violation of the non-proliferation treaty, but rather Western biases about which country should get nukes. The enforcement of international law, of international treaties has always depended on the ability of countries to use dissuasive methods and sometimes force to enforce them. The problem that we are facing now is that no country is able to stand up to Iran because no dissuasive methods have been found. Luckily, there is still time for things to change.