Wes Clark is right about Iran

[Coexist]

Remember this man?


He’s the one from the IAEA that let us know in 2003 that Iraq had no WMD.

So I was concerned when I read this article which seems to infer that Dr. ElBaradei, whom I trust, is worried about Iran. Could General Clark be wrong in Iran? Should we bomb first and switch justifications later?

"ElBaradei is saying that Iran will have 8,000 centrifuges running if the current pace (of installation) continues" at its enrichment plant in Natanz, the diplomat said, adding that, from a proliferation point of view, ElBaradei was becoming "increasingly concerned."

(Aside: please note this line in the article: “Iran could reach its goal of industrial scale production with 3,000 centrifuges running by the end of June, a senior official close to the IAEA said. That number could make enough enriched uranium for a bomb in less than a year, experts say.” That sounds familiar… Who could the mystery experts be? Not the U.S. Ambassador surely? I mean, really. Can someone please teach Michael Adler about the Google?!)

So – should we be scared?

I don’t think so. After reading several versions of that article, I came to the conclusion that he is using his influence, knowledge and foresight to push an agenda of Diplomacy onto unwilling parties. Because, just maybe, he feels really crappy that he didn’t shout loud enough last time people started their sabre-rattling and fact-fudging. I like it - and not just because it pisses Condi off. Whether or not its his job, as many voices as can be raised to shout “diplomacy” the better. After all, its his world too.

In May of this year, El Baradei sat down with the BBC and gave a very important interview on Iran and their nuclear ambitions:

Definitely whether they have the intention or they do not have the intention, one thing is clear, they are not today a clear and present danger and that is not only my view, that is the view of the MI6, that is the view of the CIA. That even if they have the intention to develop nuclear weapons, they are still 5 to 10 years away from such undertaking and that to me means that we need to invest our time in developing a comprehensive, peaceful resolution of the issue, that understands, puts the nuclear issue in a proper context that is part and parcel of the global or regional insecurity in the Middle East.

<snip>
Mohamed ElBaradei: Yes, but that would also require that they walk all the way out of the NPT, because as long as they are under IAEA verification they will not be able to go from the 5 percent enrichment to the 90 percent enrichment. So you have to assume...that is what I have been saying for a while, when you talk about Iran today, you are talking about a future risk assessment. That the scenario is Iran will have 3,000, Iran will walk out of the NPT, and then they will develop nuclear weapons, and then they will pursue an aggressive policy in the Middle East...

So, as long as they are under IAEA verification, they can’t get to the 90% enrichment. Following me? Sound familiar?

(initiate dream sequence, harkening back to the 2004 Presidential debate) Senator Kerry, please remember, reminded us how another nation had a keen interest in developing nuclear power, and the world was concerned about them building weapons. A solution was to use diplomacy to keep an eye on North Korea’s nuclear program.

Senator Kerry: With respect to North Korea, the real story: We had inspectors and television cameras in the nuclear reactor in North Korea. Secretary Bill Perry negotiated that under President Clinton. And we knew where the fuel rods were. And we knew the limits on their nuclear power.

Colin Powell, our secretary of state, announced one day that we were going to continue the dialog of working with the North Koreans. The president reversed it publicly while the president of South Korea was here.

And the president of South Korea went back to South Korea bewildered and embarrassed because it went against his policy. And for two years, this administration didn't talk at all to North Korea. While they didn't talk at all, the fuel rods came out, the inspectors were kicked out, the television cameras were kicked out. And today, there are four to seven nuclear weapons in the hands of North Korea.

That happened on this president's watch.

Well, people, we are still on that President’s watch. Fortunately, this time we have people like ElBaradei and General Clark working hard to throw up roadblocks to the rhetoric. This time we have the tincture of hindsight on Iraq (and who had the correct facts, in the end).

So Senator Lieberman, I do consider you one of the ”new crazies”, and really wish you would step aside and let true leaders take care of the business of tireless campaigning to keep the world safe.

Wes Clark is right about Iran.

[LandOLincoln]

1. C'mon, DUers, vote this onto the Greatest Page where it belongs.

I can't think of any issue that's more important right now, considering how determined these maniacs seem to be to gin up a war with Iran, and how willing the ever-compliant and complicit MSM is to help them do it.

[HuffleClaw]

2. the administration once called elbaradai a terrorist appeaser

iirc. and they tried their best to replace him with a bushbot

[wiggs]

3. Great post, important post that also cuts into the standard rhetoric...

I would like to complement you on the clarity of the post. It reflects the truth that Iran is a manageable issue.

However, I have to say that it is a sad state of afairs when a truthful, reasonable post is considered outstanding. It emphasizes the near complete poverty of public discourse in the mainstream.

This is an incredibly important issue. Why the silence from those who know better? Why the unchallenged ravings of the Liebermans of the world? How can it be that MSM outlets are allowed to mis-translate the phrase "nuclear program" into "nuclear weapons"? Folks...we are headed down a familiar road and there's no excuse this time.

[Coexist]

6. I agree this is a familiar road

however, my hope is that the media will not capitulate to nationalism this time.

I do like that Clark was there to immediately rebut Lieberman's rhetoric.

[wolfgirl]

4. K&R nt

[KharmaTrain]

5. We're A Country Of Chickenshits

How many billions has this country thrown into defense for the past 60 years? And how much of that went to the development of nukes of all types and sorts. Supposedly no one in their right mind would dare to attack the U.S. or else face "Mutually Assured Destruction".

If we want to show we mean business...why not call up the Iranian leadership and tell them to look out their window into the Tiran Straits. Then surface the U.S.S. Posidon or another Nuke-tipped sub...and then deliver the message that this sub holds 24 multiple warheads that would destroy the country before the first or their missiles got into the atmosphere.

Teddy Roosevelt talked about using the "big stick"...the use of power without having to always throw it around is the ultimate deterant. By throwing our military into a morass like Iraq, we've weakened our hand as we've now shown how inept our leadership is and gives Iran the reason to build up nukes just for their own self defense.

It's amazing how this regime ignores the real nuke threat in that region....one that already has 'em and tested 'em...Pakistan.

[nealmhughes]

10. Poseidons are all gone now, the 41 for freedom. All Trident now, there are 2 that are in Charleston

for training the S3G core and S5W steam plant. I think the Brits handful left, as their Trident program is getting lots of flack in Scotland.
When I was a reactor operator on the USS Kamehameha in 1983, we shot a Poseidon missile from just off Cape Canaveral to an undisclosed location and it went pretty far and pretty fast. All I felt was a mild thud and an even milder slight rise and fall of the boat. Battle Stations Missile is the most boring watch station there is when compared to a maneuvering watch or Battle Stations Torpedo.
Actually, our ICBMs are probably too close to hit an Iranian target from their shores, but just surfacing a few attack subs would definitely get everyone's attention, especially if they emergency blew from a fairly deep depth and came up on a steep angle! "Number 2 scope coming up, breaking, no close contacts, air in the water! Breaking! The ship is on the surface, the ship is on the surface, the ship is on the surface and holding! Secure the blow. Start the blower on all main ballest tanks, etc."

[KharmaTrain]

11. Thank You For The Clarification

I find the fear of some third-world country possibly developing a Nuke driving this country to distraction to be a total joke. It's like we have nothing to strike back with...or that the Iranians (or previously the Iraqis) were too stupid to realize what would follow if they shot a nuke at the U.S. or Israel.

Surely, many of the Iranian physicists are familiar with the U.S. program/aresnal...and the politicians know that a strike by the U.S....even an airstrike...could destabilize their regime. Rattling sabres keep the home fires burning...and has been Ameenajad's meal ticket...he couldn't have found a better patsy that booooshie.

After I posted I saw I put Posideon rather than Trident...but I'm far from knowlegeable about the submarine fleet other than to know they're the greatest weapon this country possesses.

CHeers...

[Tom Rinaldo]

7. We are being out organized on Iran so far

The neocons are working Iran as the next designated enemy for the United States very hard, and the public comments we heard Lieberman make are just the tip of the iceberg. They have a guy like Glen Beck on the air on CNN ranting about Iran nightly. They are working the Jewish media very very hard where few non jews see their efforts. They widely distribute email warnings about the need to stand up to Iran, playing on every fear of radical muslims imaginable. Just like they morphed Osama Bin Ladin into Saddam Hussein in 2002, they are morphing Al Quaeda into Iran now. They are making significant steady progress in alarming the general public about Iran. They act like slippery weasels and say "Iraq was never the greatest threat, Iran was and it is getting greater all the time. It doesn't matter if you think attacking Iraq was a mistake, Iran is different."

On top of their long standing desire to take Iran's government down, now they need to use the threat of Iran to pump up national security hysteria to prop up the Republican Party. They increasingly can't point to "fighting the terrorists in Iraq so we don't have to fight them here", because the public now sees the futility of our efforts to fight terrorists inside Iraq. They see that we have instead created terrorists inside Iraq, and are incapable of turning the tide there now by sending more American troops. So now is the time to shift focus onto Iran, where the claim is made we don't have to send troops to protect America, only bombs.

They are playing on the frustration American's feel with our efforts to work with our Arab allies who supposedly make up Iraq's government. Wouldn't it just feel better to bomb the hell out of them arab murderers rather than get into a trench with them so they can stab us in the back? Who cares if Iranians are really persians, not Arabs, and that Iran is Shiite while Al Quaeda is Sunni? The right has shifted the anti-arab hate message onto Iran, and Democrats by and large are sitting by passively and letting them get away with it.

And our own peace movement is completely fixated on ending the war in Iraq, with little attention free to confront the chicken hawks over Iran. We are three moves behind on the chess board as the construction of the psychological framework needed to support an attack on Iran is nearing completion.

Thank God for Wes Clark and VoteVets.org and StopIranWar.com. They are virtually the only peace forces taking the offensive against the neocons regarding Iran, waging the battle for the hearts and minds of the American public against the neocons on Iran, urging real, sweeping, and non conditional diplomacy with Iran right now. Saying War is not the Answer. Please follow my graphic to their web site if you have not already done so.

[Coexist]

8. great response.

I have a link to stopiranwar.com in my original post.

[IndyOp]

9. K&R