Bush Era Big For Exports to Iran

The AP (via AOL) has released a report containing some surprising information about US trade with Iran during the Bush era. Among other things, the report states that, based on analysis of trade data, exports to Iran have increased tenfold during the Bush years, despite their membership in the "Axis of Evil." Just what are we exporting?

Other surprising shipments to Iran during the Bush administration: brassieres, bull semen, cosmetics, fur clothing, sculptures, perfume, musical instruments and possibly even weapons.

Or, as the rest of us call it, Amy Winehouse's grocery list.

The report notes that the top export to Iran is cigarettes, but doesn't mention a ranking for exports of blindfolds.

How is this possible? Isn't trade with Iran illegal? And where can I pick up an F-14 fighter jet at a reasonable price?

As it turns out, not all trade with Iran is illegal, and that which is illegal is spottily enforced.

"Our sanctions are targeted against the regime, not the people," said Adam Szubin, director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces the sanctions. The government tracks exports to Iran using details from shipping records, but in some cases it's unclear whether anyone pays attention.

However, the report included some $148,000.00 in sales of "unspecified weapons," a seemingly modest total until you consider this frightening, yet hilarious, fact:

Those numbers may seem small, but military items can sell for pennies on the dollar compared with what the Pentagon paid. Last year, federal agents seized four F-14 fighter jets sold to domestic buyers by an officer at Point Mugu Naval Air Station, Calif., for $2,000 to $4,000 each, with proceeds benefiting a squadron recreation fund. When F-14s were new, they cost roughly $38 million each.

You can't even get a decent moped for that amount.

The amount of trade with Iran is insignificant when compared to other trading partners, which would seem to eliminate greed as a motive for the leaky sanctions. Given the Bush administration's heated rhetoric regarding Iran, this would seem to be yet another indication of their incompetence.

Of course, there's always the possibility that the cigarette exports are part of a top-secret "Operation: Regime Change for the Extremely Patient."