Whatever you think of Iran and what should be done about their nuclear program, can we at least agree that they're seeking a weapon?

From the recent IAEA report:
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/package...IAEA2007_8.pdf

This refers to a document inadvertently provided to the IAEA by Iran, which describes how to shape uranium into hemispheres. The only known use for such a process is building nuclear warheads.

If anyone can think of an innocuous reason Iran would have that document, I'm all ears.

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Man up.

Prepare yourself for the shock Raytri...

Yes I agree Iran has and is trying to develop nuclear weapons.



I know you must be in shock over that....

What blows my mind is how many people either seem to believe they are not or subscribe to the its for "peaceful power purposes" nonsense.
Then I believe many of those people have alterior motives that make such lunacy a necessity.
You have to ignore so much its absurd.

What!!........... You mean Iran isn't going to obey the UN and stop their pursuit of nukes??? How can this be? And how will I ever be able to explain this to my Liberal Aunt Jenny? Oh well...............since she's getting on in years, maybe I can just tell her they DID comply so she can just keep on going to sleep at night believing diplomacy works.

If they were seeking threshold nuclear capability then they would likely have a document of this nature.

My opinion is that they probably are seeking weapons but I don`t think an opinion is sufficient grounds for war.

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Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
Marx (G.)

The real question is what are we going to do if Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. I think it is clear that scores of new nations will be developing nuclear technology in the next 20 years - for nuclear power plants if nothing else. However, once you have the technology, you can easily move on to develop a bomb as well.

The problem is the US and the world in general have no universal approach to nations seeking to become members of the nuclear club. Using the one-on-one approach like we are doing in Iran clearly is not going to solve the problem. The Iranian president said, "We will give up our nuclear development when the US abides by the same rules" That seems to be the big problem - some countries are more equal (or superior) than others. That logic simply will not fly in the future. The US will never be able to keep the nuclear club as exclusive as it is today. North Korea is a living example of our failed foreign policy on nukes.

As things stand now, in the near future, almost any country will be able to make or buy nuclear weapons. We must either live with the idea (gulp) - or some new approach must be developed that applies to ALL countries.

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Hobo
Charter member of 'Republicans Who Hate Bush" Club

...there are so many on the left, including you, that think and believe countries like Iran would abide by total disarmament.

That's like believing other countries will abide by the Geneva convention.

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Cheney is the second executive officer to shoot someone in the face and chest. Clinton was the first.

The five permanent members of the Security Council (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States) enjoy the privilege of veto power. This power has been intensely controversial since the drafting of the UN Charter in 1945. The United States and Russia would probably not have accepted the creation of the United Nations without the veto privilege. Fifty years later, the debate on the existence and use of the veto continues, reinvigorated by many cases of veto-threat as well as actual veto use. This page follows the issue, and provides data and a comprehensive list of all the vetoes cast and the subjects vetoed in the Security Council since 1945.

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/membship/veto.htm

Now what do all these countries have in common? THats right they all have their own nukes. Now you tell me why would the Iranians want to stay non-nuke if only the nuke club gets a real say on thew world stage?

As long as we and the othe nuclear nations use that power to run roughshod over the rest of the world we cannot expect that other nations willnot want to join the nuclear brotherhood.....in short we (the Nuke nations) have only ourselves to blame.


Bush and the GOP controlled congress's decisions to toss out the non-rpolferation treaty when it comes to India did not help things.

Roughshod? How about Iran openly threatening to nuke Israel? Who would you rather have the nuke police be? China? How about Iran?

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Cheney is the second executive officer to shoot someone in the face and chest. Clinton was the first.

Iran lives in a very rough neighborhood. The following countries have atomic weapons...

• 1. Iraq (USA)
  2. Israel
  3. Pakistan
  4. India
  5. China

I can't really blame them for wanting to have retaliatory capabilities comparable to the others.
It's logical... and regrettable.

Why would Iran want to develop nuclear weapons?
1) Bush's "axis of evil" speech
2) Bush's "this crusade, this war on terrorism, is going to take awhile." speech
3) Invasion of Iran's neighbor, Afghanistan
4) Invasion of Iran's other neighbor, Iraq, justified with, from Iran's perspective, lies. An invasion the rest of the world could not stop
5) Bush's agenda to spread democracy to the Mideast

Do you think that Iran is feeling just a little bit threatened and is seeking nuclear weapons for self defense?

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Es ist nichts schrecklicher als eine tätige Unwissenheit.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe