On the radar: Point - try smart sanctions; Counterpoint: diplomacy, not sanctions, is the answer; Nukes: a drag on the budget; Moving towards sanctions; IAEA rebukes Iran; and Reducing Nuclear Risks in Europe.

November 21, 2011 | Edited by Mary Kaszynski

”Don’t Give Up on Sanctions” - “Giving up on sanctions is not the answer. Instead, we have to make sanctions smarter, more mutually reinforcing,” write Reuel Marc Gerecht and Mark Dubowitz in The New York Times. The authors recommend barring European and most Asian companies that deal in Iranian oils from U.S. markets, while allowing “companies from countries that have little interest in Iran’s nuclear program...to continue buying Iranian crude in whatever quantity they desire.” http://owl.li/7As69

Don’t forget diplomacy - “Gerecht and Dubowitz are not proposing an alternative to war but instead preparing more of the battlefield for a later push for war,” Paul Pillar argues. “Repeating the canard that diplomatic alternatives have been exhausted is part of that preparation. Another part is making the case the sanctions are not sufficient—supplementing the case as necessary with proposals for sanctions that would have no chance for working even if they were adopted.”

--”The component that is essential for any sanctions regime to have a chance to work [is] diplomacy that points to an alternative route involving a change in policy and a lifting of sanctions.” <>http://owl.li/7AsaR

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Look to nuke budget for savings - “A practical approach [to defense budget cuts] would involve assessing programs based on how critical they are to our 21st-century security challenges,” writes Larry Korb. “Nuclear weapons provide no meaningful protection against 21st-century enemies like terrorism and cyber war, but they do create a drag on our overall budget and siphon money away from other, more important defense spending.” http://owl.li/7Atm0

Nuclear Turkeys - “Some [nuclear] programs are necessary, some are questionable and some are simply turkeys gobbling up defense dollars,” writes Joe Cirincione in the Huffington Post. Targeting turkeys like the MOX facility, the plutonium pit factory, while right-sizing the nuclear sub fleet and rethinking the next gen bomber will save money without risking national security. http://owl.li/7As37

U.S., UK, Canada to announce Iran sanctions - “The United States and its British and Canadian allies are preparing to roll out a coordinated set of sanctions against Iran...[targeting] Iran’s nuclear sector as well as plugging key gaps that have allowed Iran to work around existing sanctions on its energy and financial sectors.” ABC reports http://owl.li/7ArUp

--The U.S. Treasury Department is expected to name Iran a territory of "primary money laundering concern,” the Wall Street Journal reports. Although this move falls short of formal sanctions on Iran’s Central Bank that some Congress members are advocating, it’s seen as preparing the way for tougher sanctions. http://owl.li/7Atfs

Investigating Libya’s chemical weapons - “The Obama administration is investigating whether Iran supplied the Libyan government of Moammar Gaddafi with hundreds of special artillery shells for chemical weapons that Libya kept secret for decades...The shells, which Libya filled with highly toxic mustard agent, were uncovered in recent weeks by revolutionary fighters at two sites in central Libya.” R. Jeffrey Smith, Joby Warrick and Colum Lynch report for The Washington Post. http://owl.li/7AsfI

IAEA resolution on Iran - The IAEA governing board “admonished Iran on Friday over rising international fears that the Persian Gulf state might be pursuing a nuclear-weapon capability,” Global Security Newswire reports. “At this point, it doesn't really ratchet up the pressure on Iran," said Mark Hibbs, since the resolution “sets no time limits for Iran to address international concerns.” http://owl.li/7Ata3

Not all about Israel - “I don't delude myself that [the Iranian nuclear program] is just because of Israel,” Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a recent interview. “With one honest comment, he demonstrated that the hysteria surrounding an Iranian bomb is phony. It is, in fact, not about an "existential threat" to Israel but about two countries competing for regional hegemony,” MJ Rosenberg writes in the Huffington Post.

--”This is not to say that the world community should not do what it can to deter Iran from achieving nuclear bombs. Another nuclear armed country -- especially one run by a radical, terror supporting bunch of clerics -- is the last thing the world needs. But the way to deter Iran is to negotiate with it, not bomb it and not inflict "crippling sanctions" on its people either. Bombing should be off the table; diplomacy should be on it.” http://owl.li/7As4Q

Blueprint for diplomacy - In an interview with Ali Vaez, Seyed Hossein Mousavian, former advisor to Iranian policymakers, described the IAEA report as “a significant step backward.” The way to resolve the standoff is a two-pronged approach involving negotiations among the P5+1 and Iran to resolve nuclear issues, and direct negotiations between Tehran and Washington. http://owl.li/7Asnr

A Framework for Reducing Nuclear Risks in Europe - “Getting from where we are today – a dangerous and costly status quo – to where we want to be – the elimination of these weapons – will require a framework for dialogue between NATO and Russia and a clear goal," writes Sam Nunn in NTI’s new report, which includes essays on the security of tactical nuclear weapons, conventional arms and missile defense and cooperation with Russia. http://owl.li/7Ascn