The answer to Mr. Smoler’s query “Have embargoes ever worked?” is painful obvious. God Himself couldn’t make an embargo work without invoking military force. His embargo on commerce in the fruit of the tree of knowledge was a notorious failure, and only with the eventual military intervention of angels bearing fiery swords (how military can you get?) was He able to enforce the sanctions of loss of food stamps and federally subsidized housing upon the inhabitants of Eden. This is hardly a hopeful precedent for the current situation in view of the generally received notion that Eden was located not far from the present-day Iraq!