"Concern over Iran nuclear work"

[Monte_RCMS]

Ya think?

lucianne.com/thread/?artnum=636869

news.yahoo.com/concern-rising-iran-military-nuclear-iaea-161835957.html;_ylt=A2KLP1U2L2FOeQUAegGs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNsdmxlczM1BG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBGUARwa2cDODVjNWNjMmMtOTRkNS0zNjcxLThkZjYtZmI0Njg2NDRiNmNjBHBvcwMxBHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyAzQ3ZmM3MGYwLWQ1O

Concern rising about Iran
military nuclear work
Reuters, by Fredrik Dahl
Original Article
Posted Byhotoonist, 9/2/2011 4:07:02 PM
Vienna - The watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency is “increasingly concerned” about possible work in Iran to develop a nuclear payload for a missile, the IAEA said in a confidential report obtained by Reuters on Friday. The U.N. nuclear agency report said it continued to receive new information adding to such worries. One diplomat familiar with the Iran probe said some information concerned activities allegedly carried out as recently as last year. The developments highlighted in the IAEA’s latest quarterly inspection report are likely to fan Western suspicions about the underlying nature

Comments:
I can see it now: ‘‘Iran detonates nuclear bomb, UN expresses concern that they might have a nuclear weapons program.’’ There will be a war in Iran, either started internally or externally.

[Women and minorities hardest hit.]

 

[George_Stegmeir]

I can easily prophesize that the day Iran test fires a nuclear device will be its last day. There are too many nuclear powers that will not tolerate that. They will respond in kind, taking the risk of starting a war with others, but absolutly eliminating the threat from radical Moslems.

 

[antonivs]

I can easily prophesize that the day Iran test fires a nuclear device will be its last day. There are too many nuclear powers that will not tolerate that. They will respond in kind, taking the risk of starting a war with others, but absolutely eliminating the threat from radical Moslems.

Nothing was done to Pakistan, nor North Korea.

 

[Seamus_L]

Or China, or Israel.

 

[George_Stegmeir]

But those countries are, like it or not, not ruled by religious fanatics who want to re-establish the Califate and the Persian Empire and consider that all non-moslems in the West to have no rights.

 

[7_Sorrows]

it’s not like this is something new. for 2 years i have been reading about how close iran is to nuclear power. 2 years ago they said they would have it in 3 months, then 6 months, then a year. they don’t seem to be able to make up their mind. finally, i stopped paying attention.
i think americans are simply so exhausted from all of these conflicts in the Middle East.
what can we do about it? we don’t trust our politicians and we don’t seem to know what is really behind all of these uprisings over there. iran is being very quiet though.

 

[Darryl1958]

Didn’t the Americans secretly export them some parts infected withnontechnology that has set back their program by years?

 

[Dale_M]

Didn’t the Americans secretly export them some parts infected withnontechnology that has set back their program by years?

I think you are referring to the Stuxnet virus, which infected a variety of manufacturing equipment and was capable of wreaking great destruction by essentially causing the machinery to self-destruct.

Widespread news reports indicate that Stuxnet did set Iran’s program back. However, Iran recently seems to have found a workaround, with a new generation of equipment.

Iran has ignored four sets of United Nations Security Council resolutions to cease enriching uranium. But it took until this summer for the country to begin using 54 of the new centrifuges, which the Iranians call the IR-2 and claim were produced entirely in its own small factories.

Just installing the small number of IR-2 centrifuges, and a handful of more advanced models called the IR-4, was something of a victory for Iran in its cat-and-mouse game with the West. The United States and its allies went to extraordinary lengths to prevent Iran from obtaining crucial supplies, including blocking the export of a special form of steel needed to operate the equipment at high speed. Hundreds more machines would be needed before Iran had the capability to ramp up production significantly.

The software worm known as Stuxnet, which hit Iran more than a year ago and slowed progress toward obtaining nuclear weapons training, was aimed at the first-generation centrifuges, which Iran called the IR-1 (for Iran-1). That equipment came from the Khan network of illicit suppliers. Yet the IR-1s were so notoriously unreliable that they broke down even when they were not the target of cyberattacks.

nytimes.com/2011/09/03/us/03nuke.html

Of course, Stuxnet affected much more than centrifuges. The virus was reportedly incredibly complex and devious, so all of its effects may not have played out. I suspect its impact will be long lasting.

 

[antonivs]

But those countries are, like it or not, not ruled by religious fanatics who want to re-establish the Califate and the Persian Empire and consider that all non-moslems in the West to have no rights.

Pakistan isn’t the most stable country in the world. I worry what would happen to its nuclear arsenal should its government fall to radicals.

 

[JMJSHJ]

My fear is this may start WW3. Say Iran decides to drop a nuke on Israel. Israel responds and blows Iran to kingdom come. Then every country in the Middle east that sympathizes with the Palestinians blows Israel to kingdom come. Would we intervene then?

Once one country drops a nuke then all bets are off and then you would see Pakistan and India drop nukes as they came within a hair of doing it in the past. Then China which borders India gets involved.

Now I could be way off the mark on this and I hope I am but I am worried.

 

[Darryl1958]

My fear is this may start WW3. Say Iran decides to drop a nuke on Israel. Israel responds and blows Iran to kingdom come. Then every country in the Middle east that sympathizes with the Palestinians blows Israel to kingdom come. Would we intervene then?

Once one country drops a nuke then all bets are off and then you would see Pakistan and India drop nukes as they came within a hair of doing it in the past. Then China which borders India gets involved.

Now I could be way off the mark on this and I hope I am but I am worried.

Nuclear holocaust used to be the over-riding concern on everyone’s minds before global warming became the new armeggedon du jour.

In retrospect, the USSR could be expected to act rationally according to MAD.
Hard to say how sincere the millenarianism of the ayatollahs will be.

 

[Darryl1958]

I think you are referring to the Stuxnet virus, which infected a variety of manufacturing equipment and was capable of wreaking great destruction by essentially causing the machinery to self-destruct.

Widespread news reports indicate that Stuxnet did set Iran’s program back. However, Iran recently seems to have found a workaround, with a new generation of equipment.

nytimes.com/2011/09/03/us/03nuke.html

Of course, Stuxnet affected much more than centrifuges. The virus was reportedly incredibly complex and devious, so all of its effects may not have played out. I suspect its impact will be long lasting.

Thanks for the update.

 

[colmywaykurtz]

I can easily prophesize that the day Iran test fires a nuclear device will be its last day. There are too many nuclear powers that will not tolerate that. They will respond in kind, taking the risk of starting a war with others, but absolutly eliminating the threat from radical Moslems.

That seems doubtful, given that nobody did anything when Iran’s next-door neighbor Pakistan tested its own bomb in '98 and nobody did anything. And Pakistan has trained WAY more militants and exported FAR more terrorism than Iran has ever done.

 

[Dale_M]

That seems doubtful, given that nobody did anything when Iran’s next-door neighbor Pakistan tested its own bomb in '98 and nobody did anything.

Of course, you have to remember that Pakistan at this time was very much part of the US security umbrella. India had been allied with the USSR, and after India’s successful test of nuclear weapons in 1974 Pakistan was full on full for the development of a nuclear deterrent to its arch-rival. I remember reading a US News and World Report article in the late 1970s which referred to Pakistan’s nuclear program as “the Islamic Bomb.”

I mention this because Pakistan’s nuclear program was given an wink and a nod by the US, and other Western powers, as part of Cold War containment. Granted, the USSR collapsed before Pakistan tested its nuclear bomb, but by then it was too late to stop.

 

[colmywaykurtz]

But those countries are, like it or not, not ruled by religious fanatics who want to re-establish the Califate and the Persian Empire and consider that all non-moslems in the West to have no rights.

Iran, while it certainly bears watching, is not the bogeyman that the US media and American conservatives have made it out to be ever since the Iranian revolution in '79.

The fact is, it has attacked no one outside its own borders since then. The one time it was preparing to do so was against the TALIBAN in Afghanistan just before 9/11. Iran had been backing the warlord Ismael Khan of the Northern Alliance against the Taliban govt—while our ally Pakistan was backing the Taliban.

And the Taliban were (and still are) the worst religious fanatics of all. The reports of the UN and Amnesty International and the International Red Cross all bore this truth out, pre-9/11.

 

[Darryl1958]

Hizbollah is Iran’s main terrorist arm.

 

[Monte_RCMS]

Of course, you have to remember that Pakistan at this time was very much part of the US security umbrella. India had been allied with the USSR, and after India’s successful test of nuclear weapons in 1974 Pakistan was full on full for the development of a nuclear deterrent to its arch-rival. I remember reading a US News and World Report article in the late 1970s which referred to Pakistan’s nuclear program as “the Islamic Bomb.”

I mention this because Pakistan’s nuclear program was given an wink and a nod by the US, and other Western powers, as part of Cold War containment. Granted, the USSR collapsed before Pakistan tested its nuclear bomb, but by then it was too late to stop.

Pakistan’s nuclear weapons ambitions date back to the early 1960’s at least.

Bhutto said they would eat grass if necessary to finance their atomic bomb project.

And the U.S. froze F-16 shipments to Pakistan because of the nuclear weapons project.

In fact, in the early 1960’s, Pakistan began acquiring aircraft from China because they knew the United States would never allow them to have nuclear-capable U.S. aircraft.

 

[colmywaykurtz]

Hizbollah is Iran’s main terrorist arm.

When it suits Hezbollah’s own interests, it acts as a proxy for Iran. But it is also a semi-legit political player in Lebanon, and was founded in response to Israeli aggression in southern Lebanon in 1982.

 

[colmywaykurtz]

Pakistan isn’t the most stable country in the world. I worry what would happen to its nuclear arsenal should its government fall to radicals.

The US and NATO undoubtedly have contingency plans in place to go in and suppress launch of said missiles with pre-emptive conventional air attack. And plans to put boots on the ground to capture all the nuclear labs and production facilities. That’s probably why they’ve been talking about a small ongoing presence in Afghanistan. It’s vital to keep Afghanistan an ally in case of such a scenario.

But it’s scary, I agree. All it takes is one missile launch, and America could be minus a fleet or an army over there.

 

[Darryl1958]

When it suits Hezbollah’s own interests, it acts as a proxy for Iran. But it is also a semi-legit political player in Lebanon, and was founded in response to Israeli aggression in southern Lebanon in 1982.

Hizbollah is a very good example of the way that Iranian power in the region works. They serve each other interests, and Iran serves Hizbollah weapons.
Nuclear access brings a whole new dimension into the equation of a Iranian proxy that was the first to use suicide attacks successfully. Hizbollah hostage takings in Lebanon were solved by making a deal with Iran and shows just how the aysmetrical system of Iran works to advance its interests in the region without overtly being seen to be the hand in the puppet.