A new government audit has concluded that US sanctions on Cuba are more restrictive than those on any other country, including Iran and North Korea. The Government Accountability Office also says the resources poured into enforcing the Cuban embargo may undermine national security by diverting attention from actual terrorist threats. More than 60 percent of cases investigated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control focused on blocking Cuban goods such as rum and cigars. The study was carried out at the request of Democratic Congress members Charles Rangel of New York and Barbara Lee of California. In a statement, Rangel said, “I am dismayed to learn that the Bush Administration’s Cuba policies have led Homeland Security and Treasury to direct scarce resources at such trivial violations, particularly when we know that our nation’s borders remains vulnerable to real threats such as drugs and weapons.”