AMERICANS TAKE IRAN MORE SERIOUSLY THAN DOES OBAMA – AT 8:58 A.M. ET:  From Fox:

A majority of American voters think military force will be necessary to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapons program, and many think it will be “a disaster” if Iran gains nuclear capabilities.

A Fox News poll released Tuesday finds that 60 percent of voters think force will be required to stop Iran, while 25 percent think diplomacy and sanctions alone will work.

Just over half of Democrats (51 percent) and independents (51 percent) think force will be necessary, as do three-quarters of Republicans (75 percent).

I'm stunned that more than half of Democrats take a hard line, and a bit disappointed that only 51% of independents do so.  Republicans, of course, are stalwart. 

If Iran were to obtain the capability to use nuclear weapons, 56 percent think that would be “a disaster,” while 37 percent call it “a problem that can be managed” and 3 percent say it wouldn’t be a problem at all.

I suspect Americans are following the news about Iran, and aren't happy with what they're seeing, and what their own country is doing.  For good reason.  Consider this, from AP:

China said Thursday it will continue to push for a diplomatic resolution to the Iranian nuclear standoff, rebuffing efforts by Western powers to introduce a new set of sanctions against Iran.

"We've been making diplomatic efforts and we believe they have not been exhausted, and we will continue to work with other parties to push for a settlement to this issue," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

As Sarah Palin might have asked, "How's that changey feeley stuff workin' out on Iran?"

Not well.

With China's firm rejection of new sanctions – China has a veto at the UN – our policy has just about collapsed.  The only alternative is to try to get nations independently to apply sanctions, outside the UN framework, which would mortify Obama's leftist supporters. 

Secretary of State Clinton has even been rebuffed on sanctions by Brazil, a non-permanent member of the Security Council.  Increasingly, nations do not take American requests seriously.

March 4, 2010