Despite sanctions and trade embargoes, over the past decade the United States government has granted special licenses allowing American companies to do billions of dollars in business with Iran and other countries blacklisted as state sponsors of terrorism, an examination by The New York Times has found.
All in the name of profits...oh sure, maybe some GE machinery parts get caught through now and again, but really this is about making sure states we call the axis of evil are not deprived of the greatest of our natural resources...
the law, pushed by the farm lobby and other industry groups, was written so broadly that allowable humanitarian aid has included cigarettes, Wrigley’s gum, Louisiana hot sauce, weight-loss remedies, body-building supplements and sports rehabilitation equipment sold to the institute that trains Iran’s Olympic athletes.
It's almost as though all that posturing about how evil some state is, is just posturing.
Hard to believe, huh?
[cross-posted at Firedoglake]