Yeah, Um, That Negotiation Thingy Just Isn't Working

Gateway Pundit:

Ya' think?

How many times have we gone over this? The idea of 'talks' only works after you win through strength of arms and determination. The Obama administration has shown that they have no determination and are doing their best to undermine the strength of the U.S. military. There is simply no way that any of our enemies are going to respond with anything other than "eh, whatever". Or giddy laughter.

On a related note:

Sky news is reporting that Iran’s state run television is claiming to have successfully test-fired a long range, improved Sejil 2 missile. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown immediately condemned the missile test and warned Iran it faced tougher sanctions.The move is likely to increase tensions with the West over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

The missile can reportedly hit targets 1,250 miles away – putting it in reach of Israel as well as US bases in the Gulf, and south-east Europe.

Hot Air adds this:

It may be impossible to shoot down, but not because of “radar-evading ability.” It’s impossible because Iran’s Russian allies successfully pushed Barack Obama out of deploying the missile defense system where it would work against the Sajjil-2. Iran doesn’t have to worry about having these shot down if they wish to threaten Europe and NATO and extort their silence while Iran completes its nuclear bomb.

The move to the exclusive use of solid fuel (the Shahab-3 used both solid and liquid fuel) is worrisome. With the Shahab-3, we could see the fueling and the staging of the missile before its launch. That would give us time to attack the launch site if we thought it necessary. The Sajjil-2 can be fueled far in advance and then hidden in silos, giving us only a few minutes warning on any launch. If the Iranians put a nuclear warhead on the Sajjil-2, defending against it will be very difficult, even if we do manage to install defensive systems where it counts.

Jammie Wearing Fool notes that Barack Obama’s self-assigned “good, solid B-plus” was predicated in part on Obama’s assertion that he had “made progress toward halting development of nuclear weapons in Iran and North Korea.” However, as Fox News analyst Michael Tobin reports, this test shows that Iran is accelerating its efforts:

This test also shows Iran ’s aggressiveness with the missile program. “The advance rate is phenomenal,” says Rubin, noting that Iran has now conducted three missile tests in 13 months. It shows just how high a priority missile technology is for the Shiite regime. Rubin says, “They need to keep testing to prove their past successes were not spurious.”

The Iranians have succeeded in stalling the world while it pushes ever faster to both a nuclear weapon and a launch vehicle to carry it. Any idea that we have somehow begun “halting” this push is either a lie or terminal naïveté.

Hey, Congress and White House: would you please pull your collective heads out of...well, wherever they are currently stuck...before Iran lobs one of their spiffy new nukes on one of their spiffy new long-range missiles?!

I know, I know. It won't happen, at least not with this administration.

There's my two cents.