N. Korea sanctions wither with objections from China and Russia

As I wrote Thursday, it is not in the broader Russian or Chinese interest that the US/Iran or the US/N. Korea situations resolve quickly. Both Russia and China are benefitting as the US finds itself overextended in Iraq and spending the remainder of its global energy on these two trouble spots.

Take a look at the limited sanctions on N. Korea that are now being discussed. Unless I'm missing something, it's looking like a "cooperative" limitation of nuclear and missile import and export which I thought we had before.

There is still strong dispute as to how this would be enforced, (framework for ship searches?) and the Russians are insisting that "Sanctions on North Korea should not even hint at a use of military force."

All this despite Bolton's cocky rhetoric,

It would also ban countries from selling luxury goods to North Korea.

Asked why, Bolton said, "I think the North Korean population has been losing average height and weight over the years and maybe this will be a little diet for Kim Jong Il," North Korea's leader.

Now there's a diplomat, eh?

(The Chinese are challenging this provision, too.)

UPDATE: Sanctions passed as detailed above. (AP, Reuters, AFP, NYTimes, WaPo) Missile and Nuke tech, heavy weapons, foreign financial ban, limited "luxury" ban, with no military "stick" behind it. There still seems to be some question over ship searches.

I don't see how this resolves much of anything. None of these sanctions seem to really put any significant pressure on the N. Korean leadership for years unless the ship searches are used as a form of harrassment. If they are, there may well be an "incident" coming.