Yesterday there was a post over at Hot Air denouncing Ron Paul’s recent video on Campaign for Liberty. Ron Paul was addressing the matter of Iran’s nuclear program. Here’s what much of the controversy is about:
That’s the alleged nuclear facility that has been developed near Qom, Iran. As you can see, it has sprung into existence since early in the decade. Our intelligence agencies have known about it for a while. Just within this last week, news of its existence surfaced in the media and a firestorm has started.
Sanctions against Iran would be a terrible idea. Any anti-American sentiment that might exist in the country will be exacerbated. We don’t need that. There are already numerous bills in the House and Senate that were hurriedly prepared in case yesterday’s talks with Iran went sour. This worries me. Economic sanctions against Iran are being revered not only as politically correct, but as the ultimate tool in bending them to our will.
Iran agreed to rapid inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This says to me is that they are probably not developing weapons, answering my question from a post a couple of days ago.
The general sentiment on this situation from the warmongering right can summed up pretty well by this recent editorial from National Review:
The big news out of the talks is that Iran agreed to rapid International Atomic Energy Agency inspections of its just-revealed enrichment facility at Qom and, in principle, to ship some of its existing low-enriched uranium to Russia. Although these items will be enough for the press — and for Iran’s international enablers — to play up the positive results of the talks, neither of these moves is earth-shattering.
The Iranians are masters of making concessions that they take back or water down, so we’ll have to see how quickly and forthrightly they really accede to inspections at Qom. In any case, the facility reportedly isn’t yet operational, so its importance in itself should not be exaggerated. The exposure of the facility was noteworthy because it was a stark piece of evidence confirming what everyone had suspected all along: Iran has a series of secret facilities running parallel to its known activities. Unless Iran becomes completely transparent about all its nuclear-related work and welcomes thoroughgoing, spontaneous inspections, Qom is beside the point.
The whole thing here.
Give me a break. First everyone was freaked out about the Qom plant. Now that Iran agreed to have it inspected, they’re saying that this isn’t enough and that they’re clearly still up to something. I have a feeling that even if Ahmadinejad agreed to a full body-cavity search, they still wouldn’t be happy.
How would America like it if other nations started demanding inspection of our 104 nuclear plants and mining facilities on their every whim? And they wanted this solely because our leader was a little batty and they didn’t like the cut of our jib. (Which doesn’t sound all that far-fetched.) We would be ticked. National Review is demanding that Iran be ”completely transparent about all its nuclear-related work and welcome thoroughgoing, spontaneous inspections.” Would we be okay with someone else doing that to us? Come on, people! They’re making concessions, and the demands that they make more are already piling on. Even if Iran did agree to “spontaneous inspections,” an absurd demand, the warmongers would still not be content and would insist that they’re still secretly up to something.
Let’s go back to Hot Air’s post reprimanding Ron Paul. In point number 2, they claim that it’s a big deal that the IAEA was keeping this out of the public eye. Why does this matter? Iran has agreed to inspection so clearly it’s not the threat it was made out to be. I can see no benefit to them having disclosed the existence of the Qom plant, since all it would have done was rile up the warmongers.
They claim further that evidence of Iranian weaponization is being withheld. Wasn’t this the claim about Iraq? Remind me what happened there? Oh, that’s right: We got into a multi-billion dollar war and costly nation-building that has yet to have an end in sight.
As for the claim that Iran broke international law: Okay, maybe they did, but shouldn’t that be a subject of diplomacy, not a justification for hostility? The fact that, as Hot Air points out, they admitted to breaking the law only further implies that the severity of what they did is fairly low.
The IAEA has been “credibly accused” of suppressing evidence that incriminates Iran, according to Hot Air. Better start throwing the bombs, then, instead of investigating this with a level head.
As an able-bodied young male who would be an ideal draftee, not to mention a taxpayer, I will oppose hostility towards Iran with every fiber of my being. We don’t need this. The idea that Iran would be secretly building a nuclear bomb to destroy Israel sounds a little shaky at face value, and the evidence seems to get shakier every day.
In spite of my recent editorial about willingness to align myself with the right, I will completely retract it if this becomes a bigger issue and they take this up as a cause.
“Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation’s fury,”
“I said I’ll do every thing in order to uphold our national interest,”
“There is no doubt that the new wave (of attacks) in Palestine will wipe off this stigma (Israel) from the face of the Islamic world, … The World without Zionism.”
“As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map,”
“their intentions are bad intentions, their intentions towards us are bad.”
“Of course, they will use watever they have in their hand, which is the U.N. Security Council, and our nation has the means to defend and obtain its own rights. Do not doubt that our people will not lose.”
“Iran is ready to transfer nuclear know-how to the
Islamic countries due to their need.”
“Powerful Iran is the best friend of the neighboring states and the best guarantor of regional security,”
“I don’t know why some countries do not want to understand the fact that the Iranian people do not tolerate force.”
-Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
It is outright lunacy to think that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has never considered developing nuclear weapons.
Let me ask you something, assuming you come back: If Iran somehow managed to secretly build a bomb, would they use it? Or are they, like other countries who posess them, just trying to increase their prominence and influence in the world arena?
Of the quotes you provided, only one intriges me. It’s the one about transferring nuclear know-how. I Googled the quote, found a few pages referencing it, but no original source that places the remark in context. Could you link me to the original speech / interview it came from?
The notorious “wipe off the map” remark was a metaphor having to do with the Israeli regime. Taken in context, it clearly is not alluding to any sort of desire to vaporize Israel with a nuke. Other translations don’t even use the word “map.” He was talking the Israeli government and its leadership.
The other quotes are examples of “talking tough.” That’s what they do in that part of the world. It’s a very different culture where (obviously) it’s acceptable for a prominent leader to speak like that. Of course Arabs hate Jews. It’s the way of the world.
I didn’t suggest that Ahmedinejad hasn’t personally thought about being nuclear. Maybe he has. I don’t know what he’s thinking. Maybe a big part of the Iranian leadership also wants this power. The reality is, though, that an Iranian weapons program is pure speculation. Qom is being inspected on Oct. 25th. A 2007 National Intelligence Estimate stated that Iran did not have a weapons program.
If Iraq has taught us anything, it’s that we need to calm down and approach “nuclear threats” with a level head and not rush into drastic actions. Would you agree with that? (Assuming you come back.)