The Iranians will negotiate in perpetuity in order to put Europe between themselves and the US, but that won't stop them from pursuing nukes. From Xinhuanet,"Iran likely to resume uranium enrichment"
BEIJING -- Iran announced on Saturday it will likely resume activities related to uranium enrichment, after talks with European negotiators yielded no results in London."It's unlikely that uranium enrichment, as it is meant by enrichment, will be resumed, but it's likely that some activities will possibly restart," said Iran's top nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani
France, Britain and Germany are seeking guarantees that Iran will not use its nuclear program to make weapons, as is suspected by Washington.
The European countries want Tehran to abandon its enrichment activities permanently in exchange for economic aid, and technical support.
Rowhani said restarting some nuclear activities does not mean Iran will end negotiations with the European powers...
What is it going to take for Europe to wake up to the fact they've been had by Iran?
It's typical Islamo negotiations, all a big sham to delay and confuse, divide from within, and continue until they have several devices.
With a delivery system able to reach Europe, Iran can and will rattle their sword, and once again Europe will back down, true to their dhimmi character.
Soon enough we will once again be one of the last bastions of freedom and have to pull Europe out of the fire. Or should we? And can we?
What a mess the European politicians have made of things!
Ironically, it may be the Israelis who save Europe by eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat, even while Europe grows more anti-Semitic by the day.
Europe is not being shammed by Iran. Europe is feigning concern and going through the rituals of registering complaints.
Europe wins either way. If Israel is destroyed, they'll raise a toast (in closed chambers, of course). If Iran's nuclear facilities are destroyed by the US or Israel, Europe will not lose a single business deal in the area. Plus, they'll get to condemn the "aggressor" in the UN. Life is beautiful.
BillR
I know a lot of posters keep referencing Israel as the saviour. I'm sure the Israelis would like nothing better than to neutralize Iran's nuclear potential, but strategically this is probably much more complicated than taking out Osirek, an act that drew an enormous amount of criticism at the time.
Anyone with knowledge about the strategic implications care to comment?
Unfortunately, it will probably take multiple seismographs going off across Europe before people wake up. Otherwise, they believe that offering aide and technology will persuade Iran to stop its nuclear weapons program.
If it ever gets to that point, I wonder how E.U. will respond...
Moose
Waterdragon
While I'm no expert and I understand that this will be much more difficult than the attack on Iraqs' nuclear power plant lets not forget that Israeli technology and intelligence is better today than it was in 1981. So, in my uninformed humble opinion I say its a wash.
An attack to stop Iran from achieving its nuclear ambitions will probably require a regime change. This is not, in my opinion, a situation where a few surgical air strikes will solve the problem. First, most analysts think there are over 30 known and many unknown sites which are underground and difficult to blow up. The program will need total destruction or the Iranians will just accelerate its program. Second, Iranian scientists working on the programs would have to be killed. Third, there is no assurance that there are no parallel sites working that are equipped to go on after strategic strikes. Such strike must totally decapitate the Iranians or it may accelerate Armageddon.
The U.S. would have difficulty accomplishing this even though it is poised on both sides of the Iranian Satan. Israel probably does not possess enough military might to do this. It would need more planes, better weapons and closer proximity to Iranian targets. Even the U.S. would be hard pressed to cover all of Iran's hiding places because Iran is such a big country.
Unlike Iraq, there is no dispute that Iran possesses biological, chemical and dirty radiological bombs. Iran has said it will use these weapons anywhere at anytime if the U.S. and/or Israel attacks. Iran also possesses fanatic religious elements worldwide that will wage jihad upon request. Iran possesses missiles that can easily reach U.S. troops in the Gulf and/or Israel itself. Iran is capable of strikes against and within the United States.
Iran can also easily hurt U.S. interests worldwide including by blowing up Saudi and Gulf State oil or mining harbors in the "Persian" Gulf so that no oil flows to the U.S. It is not limited to hurting the U.S. in its region. It can seek to hurt the U.S. in the U.S. or anywhere on the globe.
For these reasons, I am of the opinion that either the U.S. or Israel will calculate they will have to decapitate the Iranian leadership to assure that Iran will not threaten them in retaliation. This is likely to happen in the next three to nine months. My guess is a U.S., Israeli, joint U.S./secret Israeli or Israeli/secret U.S. attack will take place shortly after we see U.N. meetings taking place where the U.N and its 23 Arab votes assure us there is nothing that can be done. All allies will be dhimmi on this one, but if they are smart, they will be secretly routing for us.
It is likely if Iran is not stopped and achieves nukes in the next few years, there is a high probability that Israel and the Persian and Arab world will be annihilated in our generation.
The only 'talking' needed to be heard from Iran is:
"The students and intellectuals have overthrown the mad mullahs and will now join the civvilized world"
Or (if we are not so lucky) simply:
"We surrender!"
No one is crazy enough to wait for Israel to become a geiger counter glass parking lot -
which would require Tehran and much of Iran's nearby suburban population to do the same in compensation.
David England:
I would say that you pretty well covered all the bases; however, you didn't point out that the Saudis may covertly assist any efforts against Iran.
And the more they speak of their honor, the faster we should count our -- and their -- nuclear spoons.
David England wrote:
"Iran possesses... Iran has... Iran can... Iran is capable of..."
Well, then wipe Iran off the map. Drop a weak nuke in the middle of the country so that the radiation is confined mostly within Iran's borders, and bomb everything outside the devastated nuked area with conventional weapons. That should solve the problem of Iran, and teach the other pedophile prophet followers in the region an important lesson.
Just as it is okay to kill a hostage-taker to save his hostages, and it is okay to shoot down an entire airliner with hundreds of passengers to save a building with thousands of occupants, it is okay to wipe out an entire nation to save many other nations.
Trying to convince Iran to give up its nuke program is like trying to talk a monkey pointing a loaded shotgun at you into putting the gun down. As Captain (Strother Martin) said in Cool Hand Luke, "What we have here is failure to communicate."
Waterdragon:
I expect they will strike hard and fast, and I'm not so sure we won't help them out a little, maybe more than a little (I hope).
Take Iran's nuclear option away or suffer the consequences. I think we all know what those will be.
I see a lot of comments on too many sites, Iran is a big country, etc.
The simple truth of the matter is, their nuclear program is complex and involved. Break a critical link in the chain and the whole thing will grind to halt.
Israel has the where-with-all to break the chain. It's simply a question of what link do you want to break? Some links will taker longer than others to repair or bring back on line. With the delay of a broken chain, you can watch the ants scurry and decide where to hit next. Yes, next! This won't be a single surgical strike.
BillR-
It might be easier and more effective to strike at the mullahs and their flunky scientists, en masse, and see if they like being dead as opposed to living without a nuke.
To give an object lesson to the average Iranians: that we know who is causing the problem and don't want to kill indisciminately, just eliminate the troublemakers.
And any who wish to become future problems themselves.
Machines are easy to rebuild. Or re-import.
Eviscerated and dismembered mullahs, however, only Allah can reconstitute.
(And it ain't never happened once yet, inshallah.)
Mentat:
I have carefully considered if Saudi Arabia will secretly help anyone against the Iranians and have concluded in this fight they will not and therefore, have not mentioned them. I base this on the fact that at the end of the first Gulf War Sadaam flew his remaining planes to Iran rather than to let the U.S. destroy them. He would rather that his enemy have them as they were more likely to be used against the U.S. than in a new war with him. I am also haunted by what a Palestinian once said after Sadaam went to scud Israel: "An attack on Israel from any party for any reason at any time is always welcome." While there is no doubt the Saudis do not want Iran to obtain nuclear weapons (the Saudis are secretly working on nukes now themselves), Wahabi or Sunni behavior concerning Iran may be at times a rivalry but at times cooperative. Wasn't it the Arabs who say the enemy of my enemy is my friend, meaning if we hate someone more, we will first gang up with someone we also hate to kill the more hated one. The Shi'a Sunnite rivalry in Iraq is somewhat territorial and is also aimed by Wahabis to stop collaberation with the Americans at all costs. We have contradictory reports about how Iran has cooperated with the Al Queda. We also have contradictory reports about the house of Saud. It will not rock the boat while Saudis are actively making religiously approved Jihad against the Americans in Iraq.
I'm really getting tired of all the B.S., it was Iran who screwed with us back in '79. I remember the torment it caused the citizens of this country (U.S.). I remember the Pueblo too, and China referring to us as a "Paper Tiger". We've been getting pushed around for a very long time and this American thinks the pushing Bush has been doing, although a good start, needs to escalate. Iran has eluded to an EMP nuclear strike against this nation. We know they're crazy enough to try it, and if they succeeded we'd be dead in the water. I say we nuke the bastards. Nothing against Japan, but, it worked in Japan, it'll work in Iran. We've been speaking softly, now it's time (once again) to use the "Big Stick"