You may have heard recently that Barack Obama was angry about a nuclear site that the Iranians reported to the IAEA. If you read about it, you probably read an article that did not contain untruths. This one is as good an example as any:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/g20_summit_obama_iran
It contains factual statements of what Western leaders said. It's important and useful to know that Western leaders are acting belligerant, and denouncing Iran in strident tones. It likely signifies a renewed commitment to the policy of being ever so angry with Tehran and laying the PR groundwork for a bombing campaign if needed.
But anyone reading that article, or hearing about this on CNN is likely to walk away with the impression that Iran had been illegally concealing a uranium enrichment facility, and been caught red-handed. This shows their perfidiousness, and ill intent. That's the impression I got from scattered news reports anyway.
In the real world however, all that's happened is that Iran decided to create a new uranium enrichment facility, which is within their rights, and announced it to the IAEA, as per the rules, more or less*. Then, the Western leaders decided to pounce upon the announcement for propaganda purposes. This story makes that clear:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/26/AR2009092601359.html?hpid=topnews
It really doesn't seem to me that there was any dramatic revelation here, except that Obama is clearly continuing the Bush administration policy towards Iran. But through repetition of true but misleading statements, a lot of people have gotten the false impression that Iran is up to new tricks.
* There is a technical dispute as to whether or not they should have announced it when they first began to build it (http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=23884&prog=zgp&proj=znpp), but there is no uranium enrichment ongoing there at the moment.
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Wow... what a load of doubletalk.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think about Iran Graeme? To me it seems like they've complied with all (most?) UN regulations concerning nuclear programs, and they appear to intend to use it as a power source. Is there really something to be worried about here?
Nothing for us, as private Canadian citizens to be worried about.
ReplyDeleteSo far, they seem to be complying with anything, and generally do not seem to be the irrational "mad mullahs" depicted in the press.
They may be aiming to achieve a point of sufficient nuclear expertise whereby they could build a bomb in a few months if needed, and stop there. Canada is at such a point, for example.
That, or an actual bomb would give Israel something to worry about, and the US as well. Though not because Iran would be so stupid as to attack them. Rather, it would make Iran more difficult to attack or push around, and lower Israel's and America's power in the region. Whenever you hear the private opinions of Israeli leaders, this is what they're usually worried about.
Unfortunately, I don't have a source on hand, and am too lazy to google it right now. But I've seen a few articles to that effect in Haaretz.
But, bottom line, Iran appears to have crossed no lines. They may or may not be seeking a bomb, or bomb in a few months capacity. Neither of those should actually worry Canadians.