@@ The myth of Iranian nukes @@
Arash
September 30, 2004
Diplomacy Is Cheaper Than War
Memo To: Sen. John Edwards
Re: Iran's "Nuclear Weapons Program"
By Jude Wanniski
jwan...@polyconomics.com
I caught you on a film clip last night, Senator, where you were blasting
President Bush for diverting resources from the war on terrorism to the war
in Iraq. If I'm not mistaken, you also criticized him for allowing Iran and
North Korea to develop nuclear weapons programs on his watch.
The fact is, Senator, that neither Iran nor North Korea have nuclear weapons
programs. As best I can tell, you and the rest of the American people have
been misled to that belief in the same way the neo-cons in the Bush
administration fooled you on Iraq. They had almost everyone persuaded,
including you and Senator Kerry, that Saddam Hussein had an arsenal of
weapons of mass destruction or at least ongoing programs.
I noted an informal poll last night on CNN where the audience responded
two-to-one in the belief that Iran at the present time has an ongoing
nuclear weapons program. It does not. I've been pointing out for some time
now that these fictions have been cooked up by John Bolton, the
Undersecretary of State for Non-Proliferation, a junior officer in the
neo-con bureaucratic army that is devoted to the use of force to get what it
wants.
What they count on is a national press corps that dutifully reports whatever
they say in their background briefings. Bolton clearly misrepresents what
the provisions of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty (NPT) and the charter
of the International Atomic Energy Agency permit a signator to do or not do.
The other day I wrote in this space that New York Times reporter Stephen
Weisman acknowledged to me in an e-mail that he should have written
"suspected nuclear weapons program" in his dispatch on the dispute with
Iran, not its "nuclear weapons program," as if it were a fact. In
yesterday's
LATimes, reporters Maggie Farley and Tyler Marshall did write that "Iran
denies such ambitions," but added that "inspections by the U.N.'s nuclear
energy agency have not provided conclusive evidence of an arms program." In
fact, if the reporters were sticklers for accuracy, they would have reported
the IAEA has "NO evidence of an Iranian arms program." Not conclusive, but
NO evidence!
Of course you can't take my word for it, Senator, but if you would ask
around at least you will find that Iran has absolutely, totally agreed to
live by the strictest terms of the NPT, the Nuclear Safeguards Agreement,
and the latest protocol of the IAEA. The latter permits perpetual
inspections by the IAEA, including spot inspections of any suspected site
anywhere inside Iran. Because you and Senator Kerry have been sharply
critical of how President Bush allowed himself to be bamboozled into the
unnecessary war with Iraq, you should be careful or you will find yourself
retracing those same steps in seeming to authorize the use of force against
Iran.
You surely must have heard that Israel has been making distinct threats from
Jerusalem in recent weeks, suggesting it may have to send its Air Force to
Iran, to blow up suspected nuclear sites. Israel has also announced plans to
buy 500 "bunker busters" from the Pentagon, bombs designed to blow up
underground suspected sites. You ask me: "But hasn't Iran said it will
permit IAEA inspectors to look at any and all suspected sites?" Yes, but so
did Saddam Hussein, and the inspectors crawled all over Iraq looking for the
sites, and when they found nothing, the Bush administration declared war
anyway. See what I mean? The neo-cons do what they feel like doing.
Because our national press corps is so weak when it comes to asking these
kinds of questions, and is now forever having to apologize for letting the
barn door open AFTER the horses are all gone, about the best you can do is
watch the PBS Lehrer News Hour for useful information. PBS does not have to
survive on a commercial basis, so it can resist special interest pressures.
If you missed the show September 27, I'll provide the link here so you can
review the Ray Suarez interview of Iran's Foreign Minister, Kamal Kharazzi.
As you will see, Kharazzi is stating as explicitly as he can that nobody has
to fear an Iranian nuke, not because he asks us to trust Tehran, but because
his government is offering to submit to the strictest regime that can be
devised. And, by the way, the Iranian government foots the bill for the UN's
IAEA inspectors.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/july-dec04/iran_9-27.html
Even before the PBS interview, it was clear to Dr. Gordon Prather, a nuclear
physicist who was the army's chief scientist in the Reagan years, what Iran
was committing itself to do. Here is his Sept. 25 column about "Iran's
Golden Offer." http://www.antiwar.com/prather/?articleid=3648
After you check this out, Senator, please pass the word to the top of the
ticket, as I think Senator Kerry may also be relying on what he is reading
in the papers and thinks the President should "crack down" on Tehran instead
of simply accepting this golden offer.
* Jude Wanniski mailto:jwan...@polyconomics.com runs the
financial/political advisory service.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/wanniski/wanniski25.html