Americans are being played for fools by Iran—and fooling themselves. There is no case to be made that Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapons capability. There is no evidence that Iran’s decision-makers are willing to stop the nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions or anything else. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported on Friday that it has made no progress in its negotiations with Iran and that Iran continues to accelerate its enrichment operations, which are in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and agreements with the IAEA.
Yet the policy discussion in the U.S. is confused. Former Ambassador Dennis Ross writes that the Iranians are ready for talks. Anonymous administration officials refer to one of the most dangerous Iranian nuclear installations, Fordow, outside the city of Qom, as “a Potemkin facility.” The media are full of comparisons to Iraq in 2003, when suspicions that Iraq was pursuing a covert nuclear program led to war.
People are conflating intelligence assessment with policy recommendation. The prospect of war with Iran is so distasteful that people are desperate to persuade themselves that the problem is not serious.
IAEA inspectors on the ground at Iran’s nuclear facilities reported the following facts on Friday: Iran’s inventory of centrifuges enriching uranium isotopes has been steadily expanding, along with the stockpiles of uranium enriched to 3.5% and 20%—important stages on the road to weapons-grade uranium. Iran has installed and run advanced centrifuges in the Natanz Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant. Iran has buried an enrichment facility under a small mountain at Fordow, installed air-defense systems around it, and brought new centrifuges online there.
Iran is developing techniques and technologies needed to turn weapons-grade uranium (which it is not yet producing) into an atomic bomb. The IAEA reported that the Iranians “dismissed the Agency’s concerns [about weaponization] . . . largely on the grounds that Iran considered them to be based on unfounded allegations.” The Iranians have denied inspectors access to the facilities that inspectors suspect are being used to work on weaponization.
The price of this refusal, including U.N. and international sanctions, has devastated the Iranian economy. Unemployment and popular dissatisfaction with the regime are high. Unprecedentedly harsh sanctions imposed by the Obama administration are driving off customers for Iran’s oil.
What peaceful purpose could be served by accepting such damage to pursue an illegal nuclear program? The international community has repeatedly offered Iran enriched uranium for its reactors to produce both electricity and medical isotopes—and Iran has refused. Iran’s behavior makes sense only if its leadership is determined to have a nuclear program that can develop and field atomic weapons.
Don’t fool yourself. Given Iran’s history with a US backed war with Iraq, and threats from a US backed Israel, and being surrounded by US occupied or allied countries, how can anyone blame them for wanting to have a nuclear weapon?
The conflicts in this region [as looking into over 300 yrs of history] revolves around [ borders (land/water) and Oil ]… it didn’t “just” start in the last 10 or 20 years with the U.S…..Think Arab League and United Nations [and the conflicts of which the UN drags us into], Islamic Revolution … think dictator…
Now, there is a vengeful Lunatic in “power” just about one finger push away from a nuke….
One only needs to listen to his non-nonsensical rants [like those he holds in what he sees as a captive audience in the United Nations pulpit, only many walk out realizing [exactly what he is] ….] and many Liberals feel he is just ‘so misunderstood’ really Really???… the guy is a nut!
The US of A has absolutely nothing to do with his mental problems…his racial hate for Israel… [same goes for Iraq’s hate for Israel – these two countries are on the same side of the same coin]
“Saddam Hussein biographers have described Saddam’s anti-Iranianism, developed in his formative years living with his virulently anti-Iranian uncle Khairallah Talfah as a factor in his later foreign policy, including the Iran-Iraq War. Talfah was the author of [Three Whom God Should Not Have Created: Persians, Jews, and Flies], a pamphlet Saddam’s government was later to republish.” http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/july2008/iran_iraq.html
His rants alone should make many, many people’s hair stand on end…. many should seriously wake up and smell the coffee…lest we have an huge mess on our hands….
“The border disputes between Persia and the Ottomans never ended. Between 1555 and 1918, Persia and the Ottoman empire signed no fewer than 18 treaties delineating their disputed borders.”
In 1969, the deputy prime minister of Iraq stated: “Iraq’s dispute with Iran is in connection with Arabistan (Khuzestan) which is part of Iraq’s soil and was annexed to Iran during foreign rule.” Soon Iraqi radio stations began exclusively broadcasting into “Arabistan”, encouraging Arabs living in Iran and even Baluchis to revolt against the Shah of Iran’s government. Basra TV stations even began showing Iran’s Khuzestan province as part of Iraq’s new province called Nasiriyyah, renaming all Iranian cities with Arabic names.
“One of the factors contributing to hostility between the two powers was a dispute over full control of the Shatt al-Arab waterway at the head of the Persian Gulf, an important channel for the oil exports of both countries.” http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/july2008/iran_iraq.html
God Bless America