Iran was not ordered to Stop Enrichment

[kpete]

Iran was not ordered to Stop Enrichment
Submitted by davidswanson on Tue, 2006-04-18 04:24. Iran
By Mike Whitney, http://www.opednews.com

Here we go again.

It’s easy to get confused about developments in Iran because the media does everything in its power to obfuscate the facts and then spin the details in way that advances American policy objectives. But, let’s be clear; the Security Council did NOT order Iran to stop enriching uranium. It may not even be in their power to do so since enrichment is guaranteed under the NPT (Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty). For the Security Council to forbid Iran to continue with enrichment activities would be tantamount to repealing the treaty itself. They didn’t do that.

What they did was “request” that Iran suspend enrichment activities so that the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) could further prove that Iran’s nuclear programs were entirely for peaceful purposes.

Iran, of course, did the only thing they could do; they graciously declined. After all, Iran followed every minute step that the Bush administration took in the long march to war with Iraq, so it is only natural that they would choose to take a different path. Why would they invite more intrusive inspections allowing the UN to ferret through every inch of Iranian territory in an attempt to uncover every armory, radar station, and missile site before the inevitable US bombing? Why would they endure the humiliation of being singled out and scorned for complying with the NPT when nuclear cheaters like India are rewarded with praise and offered banned nuclear technology by Washington?

No thanks.

more at:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/10283

[Media_Lies_Daily]

1. Bingo. Good article.

[spanone]

2. KICK

[Dhalgren]

3. K&R! n/t

[LynnTheDem]

4. Exactly.

Again, SOME in America ARE paying attention to the FACTS.

Will it do any good this time? Here's hoping.

[LynnTheDem]

5. Iran's Mullahs are fighting for a principle worth fighting for.

***In fact, as nuclear scientist Gordon Prather reports, the Security Council actually confirmed Iran’s right to enrich uranium in a terse Presidential Statement which they issued after two weeks of deliberation: "The Security Council reaffirms its commitment to the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons and recalls the right of States Party, in conformity with articles I and II of that Treaty, to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination”. The right to enrich uranium is the central tenet of the NPT. That is why in the language of the treaty, it is referred to as an “inalienable right”.

Iran has fully complied with the most rigorously monitored inspections in the history of the IAEA. They have willingly submitted to “additional protocols” negotiated with the EU-3 (Germany, France and England) as a way of allaying concerns about noncompliance and to build confidence among the members of the international community. Their eagerness to negotiate in good faith was intentionally subverted by the Bush administration which has stubbornly refused to provide any of the security guarantees that Iran sought in exchange for sacrificing its rights. Iran wants a non-aggression pact from the Bush administration, something that Washington is unprepared to offer.

At no point, have the inspections produced “any evidence” that Iran is secretly developing nuclear weapons or diverting nuclear material from its use in peaceful technology. This hasn’t stopped the administration from pursuing an aggressive media strategy to feed public hysteria.

Treaties are the foundation blocks upon which the international order rests; without them we are doomed to an endless cycle of bloody conflicts. Iran’s demand that its rights be respected is in fact a defense of the basic principle which underscores civilization itself; that even the weakest among us can take refuge in the law. The Mullahs are right to think that that is a principle worth fighting for.
***

[Canuckistanian]

6. If they really want to stop nuclear proliferation

They'll put pressure on Pakistan to give up A.Q. Khan and find out exactly what he knows.

Then, re-start negociations with Russia to dispose of nuclear materials in the old Soviet republics.

Because the next nuclear weapon ain't coming from Iran.

[Mr_Spock]

7. Perspective is something we often lack in this country

...especially the people who eat up the fear mongering of Bushco.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

8. From yesterday's Democracy Now, Dubya's giving India nukes

has left Europe in an untenable position wrt Iran and uranium enrichment.

This from a former Italian TV anchor who resigned because Berlusconi held so much power over the media he owned plus that which he controlled by being Prime Minister.

She defeated Berlusconi in a race for a seat in the European Parliament. She was interviewed on the show by Amy Goodman.

She said it was hard for Europe to take a stand against Iran's nuclear program, given what Dub did so publicly with India.

Oy.