@@ Iran plays by the rules - No Fair! @@
Arash
October 25, 2004
Iran Plays by the Rules - No Fair!
Dr. James Gordon Prather
Nuclear weapons physicist
gpra...@worldnetdaily.com
John Kerry has declared nuke proliferation to be the single most serious
threat to our national security and has essentially accused Bush of making
that threat worse by his actions with respect to North Korea, Iraq, and Iran
and by his undermining of the nuclear weapons Non-proliferation Treaty.
The NPT entered into force in 1970, and at the 1995 review conference the
parties to the NPT decided that the treaty would remain in force
indefinitely.
As of Bush's inauguration, of the 182 signatories to the NPT that had
forsworn nukes, perhaps 30 were actually deemed technologically capable of
producing nukes within a short time after withdrawing from the NPT.
That's because, in return for their forbearance, the NPT recognizes their
"inalienable right" to enjoy all the benefits of nuclear energy applied for
peaceful purposes.
To prevent non-peaceful applications of those shared benefits, the NPT
established a "safeguards" regime to be administered by the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Iran began exercising its inalienable right while the Shah was in power.
However, since his fall, the United States - in violation of its NPT
commitments - has been attempting to keep all other NPT signatories from
honoring theirs.
Now that Iran has signed an Additional Protocol to their Safeguards
Agreement, the IAEA has the authority to go anywhere and inspect any
activity to ensure that Iran has actually made all NPT-proscribed materials,
equipment, and activities subject to their Safeguards Agreement.
Were the IAEA inspectors to report to the IAEA Board of Governors that they
had evidence Iran was employing - as the neo-crazies allege - certain
proscribed materials, equipment in non-peaceful applications, then the IAEA
Board could deem that employment to be a violation of the NPT and refer the
matter to the UN Security Council for possible action.
To the dismay of the neo-crazies, the IAEA inspectors have found no such
evidence and have made no such reports. In fact, the IAEA inspectors have
reported to the IAEA Board that several alleged NPT "violations" have been
resolved in Iran's favor, including the laser enrichment experiments, the
uranium conversation experiments, and the sources of the trace amounts of
enriched uranium found on imported equipment.
Drat! No evidence, no report to the IAEA Board. No report, no IAEA referral
to the Security Council. No referral, no Security Council sanctions - or
worse - applied to Iran.
What's a poor neo-crazy to do?
Well, how about end-running the NPT?
You see, irrespective of any treaty, the UN Charter empowers the Security
Council to determine whether a nation-state's actions or activities pose a
threat to international peace or constitute an act of aggression, and to
decide what measures should be taken - including military action by member
states - to maintain or restore international peace and security.
In 1991, Bush the Elder got the Security Council to determine that Iraq's
invasion of Kuwait constituted an act of aggression and to authorize Kuwait
and other member states - such as the United States - to employ "all
necessary means" to restore peace and security to the Persian Gulf region.
In 2002, Bush the Younger tried to get the Security Council to determine
that Iraq had - or soon would have - nukes and, therefore, posed a threat to
international peace. Bush failed to get a Security Council resolution to
employ all necessary means to maintain the peace because the UN inspectors
reported directly to the Security Council that they could find no evidence
that Saddam was a threat. That he had made no effort since 1991 to even
develop a capability to produce nukes or chem-bio weapons.
Now, in 2004, having failed to get the IAEA Board to refer Iran's alleged
violations of the NPT to the Security Council for possible action, Bush the
Younger intends to bring Iran's alleged nuke programs before the Security
Council, directly, hoping for a determination that Iran poses a threat to
international peace, authorizing Iraq and other member states - such as
Israel - to employ all necessary means to maintain peace in the region.
Fat chance.
Before determining that Iran's safeguarded nuclear programs pose a threat to
peace in the Persian Gulf region, the Security Council is much more likely
to determine that Israel's non-safeguarded nuclear programs pose a far
greater threat.
China has promised to veto any Security Council resolution imposing even
sanctions on Iran, much less one authorizing military action.
Of course, the U.S. - under Bush or Kerry - would veto a Security Council
resolution involving Israel. We always do.
* Physicist James Gordon Prather has served as a policy implementing
official for national security-related technical matters in the Federal
Energy Agency, the Energy Research and Development Administration, the
Department of Energy, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the
Department of the Army. Dr. Prather also served as legislative assistant for
national security affairs to U.S. Sen. Henry Bellmon, R-Okla. -- ranking
member of the Senate Budget Committee and member of the Senate Energy
Committee and Appropriations Committee. Dr. Prather had earlier worked as a
nuclear weapons physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in
California and Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico.
http://www.antiwar.com/prather/?articleid=3844