Further to yesterday’s post regarding the hype being fostered by vested interests surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, I came across this small piece in today’s Oz, of a much longer article apparently sourced from AFP.
A full text of the David Crawford piece from which the Oz obtained it’s misleading article can be found here, at the Wall Street Journal. The actual report to the Board of Governors of the IAEA is confidential and not in the public domain, so in reality, we have no way of knowing the context in which the IAEA Director-General, Yukiya Amano phrased his suspicions regarding Iran’s nuclear program. That said, Crawford includes much more of the alleged wording from this confidential report, than the Oz deigned to print.
“The information available to the agency…raises concerns about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile
”
Such statements, as Crawford points out, must be viewed in light of Amano’s differing perception of the role of the IAEA, to that held by his predassesor, El Baradai. That statement is definitely not the smoking gun of irrefutible proof required to support the hype some would like to see escalated, nor is it even close. I note also the clarification of the US administration’s stance on the issue, in that the formal policy is one of acceptance that Iran’s presumed past attempts at weaponising nuclear fuel have been ‘shelved’. Now, ‘shelved’ to my mind means recoverable, and logic dictates that the knowledge required to weaponise nuclear fuel and create warheads is easily obtainable from the right quarters. Evidence the A.Q.Khan network which was operating between Pakistan, Germany and the Middle east. That said, it remains highly disingenuous of Greg Sheridan et al to bang a drum when no clear evidence exists. As I stated, Iran has every right to pursue a peaceful nuclear energy program, and to all intents and purposes, that is what she is doing. Unless or until the I.A.E.A. uncover anything to the contrary, all the hype under the Sun is as empty and meaningless as the integrity of those trying to foster it.
2 Responses to “No Smoke and No Gun”
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Whether Iran is pursuing power generation, a bomb or both, it is vital that a distinction be made between something that goes BANG and a ‘weapon’, ie something deliverable elsewhere.
Israel has small, weaponised nukes deliverable by bomber, India has bombs and, allegedly, some warheads for their Agni missiles.
Pakistan has managed to explode “devices” but isn’t within a lightyear of having a weapon, have no bombers worth the spare parts and only modified, 30yr old North Korean missiles (which themselves are ripoffs on even older chinese Long Dongs).
And North Korea has still NOT exploded even a nuclear ‘device’ – the last several attempts have been only TNT triggers will still have not been precise enough to induce fission in the uranium core. In other words, they are even further from something that can be called a bomb than Pakistan.
Whether Iran is pursuing power generation, a bomb or both, it is vital that a distinction be made between something that goes BANG and a ‘weapon’, ie something deliverable elsewhere.
Israel has small, weaponised nukes deliverable by bomber, India has bombs and, allegedly, some warheads for their Agni missiles.
Pakistan has managed to explode “devices” but isn’t within a lightyear of having a weapon, have no bombers worth the spare parts and only modified, 30yr old North Korean missiles (which themselves are ripoffs on even older chinese Long Dongs).
And North Korea has still NOT exploded even a nuclear ‘device’ – the last several attempts have been only TNT triggers will still have not been precise enough to induce fission in the uranium core. In other words, they are even further from something that can be called a bomb than Pakistan.