Iran a pussycat or a tiger?

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A top EU aide backs Iran in feud over arms
Thomas Fuller/IHT
Tuesday, November 18, 2003

No UN appearance necessary, he says
BRUSSELS Reiterating a policy of engagement with Iran, the European Union's foreign policy chief said Monday that the Iranian government had been honest about its nuclear program and should not be made to appear before the United Nations Security Council..
The comments by Javier Solana highlighted the divergent paths taken by the European Union and the Bush administration, which says Iran has a covert nuclear weapons program..
"They have been honest," Solana said here on the sidelines of a meeting of European Union foreign and defense ministers. "Let's see if they continue all the way to the end.".
In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said he disagreed with Solana's assessment..
"I wouldn't have gone quite as far," Powell told reporters in Washington, according to Agence France-Presse. The United States believes that Iran's nuclear development program "had an intent to produce a nuclear weapon," Powell said..
But he also said diplomatic efforts by the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany had been "very, very helpful.".
The three foreign ministers visited Tehran last month and secured a promise that the Iranian government would stop enriching uranium..
On Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency will decide whether Iran has violated the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and whether it should be referred to the Security Council..
Solana said it was his hope that the agency would not recommend a Security Council appearance for Iran..
Solana's comments were in sharp contrast to testimony on Monday by Meir Dagan, the head of the Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency..
Speaking in the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, Dagan said that Iran was now close to the "point of no return" in developing nuclear weapons and that the country's nuclear program represented "the biggest threat to Israel's existence since its creation" in 1948..
The comments were reported by Agence France-Presse..
The European Union has pursued a policy of engagement with Iran and is negotiating better trade and investment privileges for the country - contingent on certain "political" factors such as Iran's human rights record and its policies toward its neighbors..
"We will not conclude the trade and cooperation deal unless we have seen progress on the political side," said Emma Udwin, a spokeswoman for the European Commission..
I

Does this sound like Neville Chamberlains upon his return from meeting with the German's "Peace in our time"
http://www.iht.com/articles/118044.html

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I think I can say there's one certainty here - even if our friends in Iran really were developing nuclear weapons, who would believe us? You can only cry wolf so many times.

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I would however,believe the Mossad they have there finger on the pulse of the middle East.

Quote:

This from Israels Intel chief.
Mossad's chief also said Iran's nuclear missile capabilities could pose a threat not only to Israel, but also to Europe, and urged the international community to stop Teheran's nuclear development. Israel Radio reported Monday that Mossad believes Iran is going "full steam ahead" with its nuclear weapons program, despite its apparent cooperation with the United Nations nuclear agency, the IAEA. Dagan said Iran's nuclear development was approaching "a point of no return". Dagan told the committee that the 100 megawatt reactor ii Bushir is too large to be used only for electricity production. Iran's Kashan uranium enrichment facility is close to completion and, barring serious technical difficulties, has the potential of producing material to make 10 nuclear bombs a year by the end of 2004, he said. According to Israel Radio, Iran has invested billions of dollars in its nuclear development. Dagan told the Knesset committee that Iran's nuclear facility in Kashan was especially worrisome. Iran has also invested similar amounts in surface-to-surface missiles, some of which can currently travel distances of between 1,400km to 2,000km - putting Israel within range. Dagan said that Iran was also developing longer-range missiles capable of hitting European cities. Teheran was also investing in bombers able to carry nuclear payloads and travel long distances, Dagan said

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Hmmm, the U.S. and EU remind me of two stubborn five-year olds. Both sides are blowing it, just out of 'principle'. I do agree that EU is guilty of looking away from the problems - after all, Kosovo should have been primarily a European problem, but they did not do anything. Yet the U.S. flexing of muscles is not much more helpful in the long run, nobody can go at it alone. I sure wish both sides came to their senses and started to talk about some feasible strategy of human rights promotion and protection.

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Well, the Bush administration is absolutely positive that the Iranians have weapons of mass destruction -- and they are certain that they have even more than Saddam Hussein had!

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Frank
It is not a question of what they have but their continued march to develop them. That is the issue.

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Instead of worrying about people who MIGHT have nukes -- or who MIGHT develop them -- why not go after people who do have them.

Of course, we'd have to attack ourselves -- but that should be no problem for this bunch of lunkheads.

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Jim, I've come to appreciate your comments. Don't go away, heah?

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Iran a pussycat or a tiger?

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