Its main opponents, Israel and the United States, have taken harsh steps already.
James immediately took harsh measures to break the power of the Scottish nobility.
They have also taken harsh measures against the Arabs — not without reason, they say.
"Also, it's an emotional occasion when police cannot take harsh measures to push back the crowd".
Then the military, with the claim of suppressing anarchy, would take harsh action, often with the public's approval.
(And, as Joe Nocera pointed out in the Times, it has taken harsh action over infractions that are far more minor).
The deal was rapidly overhauled, but holders of large deposits in some banks were forced to take harsh losses.
In a campaign season when many men — and women — are taking harsh stances that could hurt women, a chivalrous voice has at last arrived.
In the aftermath of the Commune, the government took harsh repressive action: about 38,000 were arrested and more than 7,000 were deported.
The economic crisis has also battered both those who are having to take harsh austerity measures and those having to lend them money.
