Iran — Iran pressed ahead Monday with plans that will increase its ability to make nuclear weapons as it formally informed the U.N. nuclear agency of its intention to enrich uranium to higher levels.
Alarmed world powers questioned the rationale behind the move and warned the country it could face more U.N. sanctions if it made good on its intentions.
Iran maintains its nuclear activities are peaceful, and an envoy insisted the move was meant only to provide fuel for Tehran’s research reactor. But world powers’ fears that Iran’s enrichment program might be a cover for a weapons program were critical.
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jaywalker (anonymous) says…
(headline extension) "...and even closer to retaliaton by Israel."
snap_pop_no_crackle (anonymous) says…
How's that hopenchange working out for you?
snap_pop_no_crackle (anonymous) says…
The weekend forecast for Tehran, partly cloudy with an afternoon high of 8000 degrees. Wind mostly light and variable gusting to 400 miles an hour from the direction of the former nuclear research facility.
feeble (anonymous) says…
"These announcements are a joke; they cannot be taken seriously. Not only has Iran thus far barely managed to enrich uranium to 5 percent, it can hardly keep its one enrichment plant in Natanz—which took many years to build—up and running full time. The idea that Iran could build 10 more plants in a year while also figuring out how to enrich uranium to 20 percent is laughable. Ahmadinejad’s announcement is nothing more than a feeble attempt at nuclear brinksmanship, as the French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner acknowledged when he called it “blackmail.”"
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-an...
MyName (anonymous) says…
Iran is trying to pull a N. Korea by keeping their people focused on external threats in order to make them not pay attention to what a crummy job their leadership is doing. The difference is that Iran's people aren't nearly as isolated and Iran is much farther away from getting the bomb than they're trying to have the world believe.
Iran is just like the fringe-right crazies in the US: the louder their rhetoric, the weaker their hand.
Agnostick (anonymous) says…
Everyone seems to be forgetting a very important point:
The particular "government" making these threats is a very scared, very paranoid, very insecure "government."
It is a "government" that has the support of, at most, half its citizens.
It is a "government" that is struggling to hold back its citizens from all-out civil war.
It is a "government" that has spent the last year dealing with protests, and other civil unrest. It is a "government" that has a rather feeble grasp on any sort of internal power. With these threats, I beileve this "government" is hoping to gain some measure of external respect, admiration, etc. to replace the *internal* respect and admiration that is hopelessly lost.
For any other nation to make any sort of preemptive move on Iran right now could be disastrous... mostly for the people that are trying to foment change on their own.
The best thing the rest of us can do at this point is to let the Iranian people work this out on their own.
Agnostick
agnostick@excite.com
puddleglum (anonymous) says…
let 'em get some nukes.
we haven't used ours-as far as I am concerned, our nukes and minuteman missles have been nothing more than a waste of tax payer money.
imagine if we had a government-paid or funded healthcare system and never got to use it!
oh, wait.
AreUNorml (anonymous) says…
this is a great article which describes what the Iranians are working on and why it cannot be used for peaceful purposes.
http://www.slate.com/id/2240460/
here's small snippet:
To be precise, they show the internal memoranda of the dictatorship as they bear on the crucial question of a "neutron initiator." Small as this device may be, it is the technical expression used for the "trigger" mechanism of a workable nuclear weapon. The critical element of the "trigger" is uranium deuteride or UD3. And uranium deuteride has no other purpose. To quote David Albright, the president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington: "Although Iran might claim that this work is for civil purposes, there is no civil application. This is a very strong indicator of weapons work."
AreUNorml (anonymous) says…
Barry, would you remind me of what PAD stands for? I know you've said it before, I just can't recall.
rduhrich (anonymous) says…
More pounding the war drums by the MSM. Does this sound familar to the lead-up to invading Iraq? We've seen how well that worked out!
K_Verses_The_World (anonymous) says…
The neighborhood bully just lives to survive,
He's criticized and condemned for being alive.
He's not supposed to fight back, he's supposed to have thick skin,
He's supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Bob Dylan - Neighborhood Bully
BrianR (anonymous) says…
snap_pop_no_crackle (Anonymous) says…
"The weekend forecast for Tehran, partly cloudy with an afternoon high of 8000 degrees. Wind mostly light and variable gusting to 400 miles an hour from the direction of the former nuclear research facility."
SNORT!
Good one.
jaywalker (anonymous) says…
"More pounding the war drums by the MSM. Does this sound familar to the lead-up to invading Iraq?"
That pounding you hear must be coming from the voices in your head.
BorderRuffian (anonymous) says…
Calm down folks. There's a fairly simple answer. Dioplomacy. We just need to meet with Achmadinajad, apologize for being Americans, then offer him several billions more in (wink, wink) aid. It'll keep him happy for another several months. That's the way diplomacy works.
jumpin_catfish (anonymous) says…
So what's Obama doin' that is sooo much better then the last guy? The craziness continues at home and abroad.
cowboy (anonymous) says…
should be a bloody thursday in Iran.
If a war does occur the strike will be from israel . While iran has millions of crazy SOB's willing to run up the hill for allah they have virtually no air force while israel has one of the best in the world.
tbaker (anonymous) says…
Porch - you are spot-on. Bravo.
Iran has double-digit unemployment and inflation. 2/3's of them are under the age of 30, and nearly 20% have an opium problem. They're pissed. 30+ years of the "revolution" have resulted in the country going backwards and becoming even more corrupt and destitute than under the Shah. Power is controlled by a select few and the economy is ran by the Revolutionary Guard. We've seen what happens to dissent.
Ahmadinejad handed out "keys to paradise" (plastic toys) to Iranian soldiers in the war with Iraq before they we asked to roll their bodies across the ground to clear Iraqi mines. He is a sick monster capable of great brutality when the need arises - and it soon will.
The US does have to keep Israel in check though, and we must stay out of the debate going on in Iran least we give the Mullahs an excuse to blame the great Satan for their troubles.
Agnostick (anonymous) says…
unsavoryagent (Anonymous) says…
“The best thing the rest of us can do at this point is to let the Rwandan people work this out on their own.”
unsavoryagent (Anonymous) says…
Sorry, I forgot to attribute that to President Clinton.
___________________________________________________
Oh, don't worry. It's not like I'm all that worried that you can accurately and fairly attribute that exact quote to President Clinton. ;)
Comparing the Rwandan civil war and genocide to the *current* situation in Iran... well, I wouldn't even say "apples vs. oranges," because even *that* suggests too much similarity. "apples vs. spark plugs" or "apples vs. wingnuts" would be more appropriate.
Agnostick (anonymous) says…
Today is the "big anniversary" in Iran. While the "government" there is making certain claims about celebrations... reports from the people provide a certain amount of contrast.
Andrew Sullivan, in particular, has done a spectacular job over the past nine months, keeping up with the ongoing strife there.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com...