Great. Now that we're all on the same page, now what? The prospects for the changing of the guard at the IAEA to improve the organization's response to the Iranian nuclear threat are looking increasingly dismal. "IAEA says it can't confirm Iran nuclear program is peaceful," by Scott Peterson for the Christian Science Monitor, March 1:
Istanbul, Turkey - The UN's top nuclear official on Monday said the Islamic Republic was not providing the "necessary cooperation" to guarantee that the Iran nuclear program is for exclusively peaceful purposes.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assessment comes as Iran has been stepping up uranium enrichment levels and expanding its nuclear fuel cycle plans in recent weeks, moves that have prompted President Barack Obama to warn of tougher sanctions against Iran.
"The agency continues...to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran, but we cannot confirm that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities because Iran has not provided the agency with the necessary cooperation," Yukiya Amano, the new IAEA chief, told the agency's governing board at the start of its meeting in Vienna this week.
Mr. Amano asked for "clarification of issues related to possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program," and that Iran make "full implementation of its safeguards agreement and its other obligations [a] matter of high priority."
The tougher IAEA line comes as momentum builds in Washington to impose more sanctions upon Iran - a "pressure track" to add to three sets of UN Security Council sanctions and an array of US and European measures that already target Iran.
"The pressure track does not mean that the engagement track is closed," Glyn Davies, the US Ambassador to the IAEA, said in a recent Monitor interview in Istanbul. "But we are looking for Iranian bona fides. There is such an overhang of issues, it would require a significant change by [the] Iranians."
The recent back-and-forth with Iran over its nuclear program "has been maximally frustrating" because of the mixed messages from Tehran, said Amb. Davies.
All they're doing is buying time. No one seems willing to call them on it.
On Monday, Iran took issue with Amano's remarks. "We have fully cooperated with the agency. This cooperation will continue," said Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
Tougher sanctions? Analysts expect this week's meeting of the IAEA's governing board to pave the way for a tougher, fourth set of UN sanctions against Iran as it tussles with the IAEA over unresolved issues that point to a weaponization effort, but are based on US and Western intelligence that Iran says is fabricated....
And we're right where we were four or five years ago. The only difference is, Iran has had all that time to progress with its plans.
Can't confirm it's peaceful? Duh. It should be clear by now to everyone with even half a brain that if the IAEA could take a collective IQ test it would be a Fahrenheit room temperature IQ. Why does this stupid agency even exist anymore? At best, it's useless. At worst, it's an enabler of evil. Variation on a theme respecting the rearranging of the deck chairs on the Titanic. Stupid world. Drifting.
Iran is obviously stalling and doing whatever else is necessary to buy enough time to complete it's development of a nuclear weapon. The rest of the world has delegated to the ineffective and toothless IAEA the job of reining in Iran. But soon it won't matter any more, as Iran will either complete its project, rendering the IAEA irrelevant, and move to the next stage of leveraging its possession of a weapon to threaten and bully the world, or some actor in the world will take unilateral action to remove the threat. Either way, all of us will be passengers on the bumpy ride that is sure to follow.
"Are Iran's nuclear ambitions peaceful, or not?"
Gee, that's a tuffy. I'll have to marinate on that one for awhile.
OT
Funny. Watching the South Park episode tonight in which the boys go to Afghanistan with "Stevie Nicks" (a goat).
Anyway, they get off the plane and start walking around. Cartman says, "What is this? The freaking Flintstones?" !
lol, that always cracks me up. Also in this one OBL is hugely mocked and is certifiable loony-tunes. He's always shouting "Jihad!Jihad!Jihad!" and "Ramadan!Ramadan!Ramadan!" The satire is hilarious.
A Muslim would kill someone over this episode.
Bloguer le Coran : Sourate 2 “la Vache”, versets 1-39
Sourate 2, Al-Baqara (“La Vache”), comme presque chacun des chapitres du Coran, tient son titre de quelque chose dont il est question dans son contenu – en l’occurrence, l’histoire de Moïse communiquant le commandement de Allah aux Israëlites pour qu’ils sacrifient une vache. (2:67-73). C’est la sourate la plus longue du coran – 286 versets – et elle introduit le schéma général (mais non absolu) du coran qui consiste à aller du plus long au plus court chapitre, à l’exception de la Fatiha, qui occupe une position privilégiée en tant que première Sourate à cause de son caractère central dans l’Islam. La sourate Al-Baqara, “La Vache,” fut révélée à Mahomet à Médine – c’est à dire lors de la seconde partie de sa vie de prophète, qui débuta à La Mecque en 610. En 622 Mahomet et la première communauté Musulmane se déplacèrent à Médine où pour la première fois Mahomet devint un chef politique et militaire. Les théologiens islamiques considèrent généralement que les sourates de Médine prévalent sur les sourates de la Mecque partout où il y a un désaccord, selon le verset 106 de ce chapitre du Coran, dans lequel Allah parle d’abroger des versets et de les remplacer par de meilleurs. (Cette interprétation du verset 106, toutefois, n’est pas universellement acceptée. Certains disent qu’il ne s’agit pas de l’abrogation de versets du Coran, mais seulement des Ecritures juives et Chrétiennes. Nous traiterons cette question plus loin dans notre série.)
NEW ARTICLE OF ROBERT SPENCER'S BLOGGING THE QUR'an translated in French
Nouvel article de bloguer le Coran DE ROBERT SPENCER traduit en Français
http://www.avraidire.eu/2010/03/bloguer-le-coran-sourate-2-la-vache-versets-1-39/
Eastview, The IAEA needs to hire you to inspect Iran's nuke faacilities. Then we could know the truth. The UN is really not interested in the truth. The only one that wants the truth is Israel, and they already know.
"The IAEA needs to hire you..."
LOL. You kidding me? The prospect of working for the IAEA would be about as appealing as working for the OIC, and equally as hazardous to one's mental health. Besides, as you say, Israel already knows the score.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assessments have never had any teeth, or real concern on these issue. Why should they start now? Soon Iran will have everything in place to go on the offensive. Israel can't wait for the IAEA, to wake-up, it must protect its self. The United States would be wise to do the same. The IAEA and the United Nations will not help defend against war. It never has and likely never will. Both are more for show than anything else. Therefor, each nation should protect its self against aggression.
"would be about as appealing as working for the OIC,"
LOL. Thought that would get your attention this morning. I certainly understand your lack of interest in the IAEA. With their reputation and corrupt management they could never hire a quality person. It illustrates the lack of trust that we have in the UN and the trust that we do have for the Israelis. This whole thing with Iran is like a slow motion nightmare and the more that is known about it, the worse the nightmare. This must be painfully true for the Israelis.
In the end what matters is when the inevitable happens. The inevitable is that Bibi takes out Iran's peaceful nuclear bomb research site.
You students of history out there, when has any "international anything" applied a timely fix to a critical situation like the one we have here?
An honest Japanese man. The totally gutless West doing nothing, as the Global Nuclear Jihad is rapidly approaching.
Ruslan Tokhchukov, EnragedSince1999.