Nukes in Iran?
My preference would be that nobody had nuclear weapons. However, that seems to be unlikely to happen any time in the near future.
Iran currently has about 180 centrifuges. About 16,000 would be required to make the enriched uranium for a bomb, and Iran expects to have about 3,500 centrifuges a year from now. So it will clearly be some time before Iran could make a nuclear weapon. At the moment, as one reporter pointed out, their nuclear capabilities don't extend beyond making glow in the dark Mickey Mouse watches.
The U.S. has shown its willingness to attack defenseless nations, having attacked approximately 40 nations since the end of World War II. Most recently, the U.S. attacked Iran's next door neighbor, Iraq, who Bush lumped with Iran in the "Axis of Evil". The U.S. has not, however, attacked the third "Axis of Evil" nation, North Korea. North Korea does have nuclear weapons. If I were the leader of Iran, or any nation that has anything the U.S. might like to control, I would be working as hard as possible to obtain nuclear weapons and the ability to deliver them to the U.S., as this seems to be the only way to avoid attack. Or I would do as several nations have done, and start making friendly with China. Or both.
If the U.S. is worried about nuclear proliferation, it should start by refusing to proliferate nuclear technology to other countries, such as India, and should start disarming itself of its own nuclear weapons. The U.S. should stop developing new nuclear "bunker busters" and other nuclear weapons. It would also help if the Bush regime hadn't stated they intended to develop the capability to construct 125 new nuclear weapons per year. In addition, organizations who have members like Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Condoleeza Rice, and George H.W. Bush should refrain from publishing articles stating that the U.S. could launch a first strike nuclear attack on Russia and China and suffer little or no damage in retaliation.
There are also rumors that Saudi Arabia is developing nuclear weapons, and like Iran, who can blame them?
If the U.S. wants to prevent other nations from developing nuclear weapons, it should stop making it clear to other nations that they will need them to avoid being attacked.
Iran currently has about 180 centrifuges. About 16,000 would be required to make the enriched uranium for a bomb, and Iran expects to have about 3,500 centrifuges a year from now. So it will clearly be some time before Iran could make a nuclear weapon. At the moment, as one reporter pointed out, their nuclear capabilities don't extend beyond making glow in the dark Mickey Mouse watches.
The U.S. has shown its willingness to attack defenseless nations, having attacked approximately 40 nations since the end of World War II. Most recently, the U.S. attacked Iran's next door neighbor, Iraq, who Bush lumped with Iran in the "Axis of Evil". The U.S. has not, however, attacked the third "Axis of Evil" nation, North Korea. North Korea does have nuclear weapons. If I were the leader of Iran, or any nation that has anything the U.S. might like to control, I would be working as hard as possible to obtain nuclear weapons and the ability to deliver them to the U.S., as this seems to be the only way to avoid attack. Or I would do as several nations have done, and start making friendly with China. Or both.
If the U.S. is worried about nuclear proliferation, it should start by refusing to proliferate nuclear technology to other countries, such as India, and should start disarming itself of its own nuclear weapons. The U.S. should stop developing new nuclear "bunker busters" and other nuclear weapons. It would also help if the Bush regime hadn't stated they intended to develop the capability to construct 125 new nuclear weapons per year. In addition, organizations who have members like Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Condoleeza Rice, and George H.W. Bush should refrain from publishing articles stating that the U.S. could launch a first strike nuclear attack on Russia and China and suffer little or no damage in retaliation.
There are also rumors that Saudi Arabia is developing nuclear weapons, and like Iran, who can blame them?
If the U.S. wants to prevent other nations from developing nuclear weapons, it should stop making it clear to other nations that they will need them to avoid being attacked.
posted by Jim Allyn at 4/16/2006 05:36:00 PM
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