ElBaradei: Iran not an immediate nuclear threat

[cal04]

Iran does not pose an immediate nuclear threat and the world must act cautiously to avoid repeating mistakes made with Iraq and North Korea, the head of the U.N, nuclear watchdog agency said on Tuesday. Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the world shouldn't "jump the gun" with erroneous information as he said the U.S.-led coalition did in Iraq in 2003, nor should it push the country into retaliation as international sanctions did in North Korea.

"Our assessment is that there is no immediate threat," the winner of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize told a forum organized by the Monterey Institute of International Studies south of San Francisco. "We still have lots of time to investigate." "You look around in the Middle East right now and it's a total mess," he said. "You can not add oil to that fire." The recent violent history in Iraq bears an important lesson for diplomacy with neighboring Iran, the diplomat said. "We should not jump the gun. We should be very careful about assessing the information available to us," he said. The Bush administration led a coalition into Iraq in 2003 saying President Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction. No such weapons were found.

"I ask myself every day if that's the way we want to go in getting rid of every single dictator," ElBaradei said. While it was unclear whether Iran ultimately intended to redirect its development of nuclear power into a weapons system, it was clear there was no danger of that right now, he said. The five U.N. Security Counci lpermanent powers and Germany, trying to curb Tehran's nuclear program, are planning to meet in Vienna on Thursday to try to finalize a package of incentives for Iran to halt uranium enrichment along with penalties if it keeps defying international pressure.

ElBaradei said he believed a majority in the Iranian leadership was still interested in a negotiated solution and normal relations with the world. The United States is pressing for tough U.N. sanctions if Iran does not comply. "It would be terrible" to try to strengthen sanctions, which could force Iran to retaliate, he said. "We have learned some lessons from North Korea," he said. "When you push a country into a corner, you are giving the driver's seat to the hard-liners there."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060530/wl_nm/nuclear_elbaradei_dc

[AlamoDemoc]

1. K&R

[54anickel]

2. Good to see him speaking out so strongly on this issue. He has always

spoken rationally, but not very forcefully or openly against Bushco's handling of Iran. Let's hope the world is listening.

[Karmakaze]

3. I have a theory....

We know Iran is not a nuclear weapons threat, at least not for quite a while yet, but the US government seems determined to stop Iran from even having civillian nuclear power. We also know that one of the main reasons for US military dominance is the use of Depleted Uranium weapons and armour, which makes enemy tanks easy to kill and American tanks hard to kill.

Did you know:

A. Depleted uranium is what is left over when most of the highly radioactive types (isotopes) of uranium are removed for use as nuclear fuel or nuclear weapons. The depleted uranium used in armor-piercing munitions and in enhanced armor protection for some Abrams tanks is also used in civilian industry, primarily for stabilizers in airplanes and boats.
http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/faq_17apr.htm

In other words, the reason the US is so against Iran processing Uranium for nuclear fuel (even civillian fuel) is because of the massive amounts of DU left over, which is bound to end up being used in the Iranian munitions industry.

[annabanana]

4. This is exactly the kind of report that disappeared in the

lead up to the invasion of Iraq. It was either not reported, or mentioned in passing, or buried on page 22 below the fold.

To ignore this evidence is to give them permission to truly blow the world apart, in our name.

(nominated here, and recommeded there)

[grytpype]

5. Uh oh, we better invade Iran right away.

Before they don't make a nuke.

[spanone]

6. K&R Looks like Bushco will have to fix the intel around the policy again.

They will declare the UN inconsequential. Watch'em.

[CoffeeCat]

7. Thank YOU!!

I think the world now realizes that BushCo is capable of anything--including lying themselves into a war with any country of their choosing.

Voices such as ElBaradei need to speak up loudly and aggressively against the propaganda that BushCo spews.

Junior is repeating the run-up-to-Iraq formula...position the country as "troublesome" and feign diplomatic measures. Then later, Junior can claim that they tried peaceful measures.

It is up to the world community to debunk what is happening here. This can't happen again. Please. No. People like ElBaradei need to be shouting the truth from the rafters. We all know that BushCo is a bunch of third-rate thugs. They probably threaten anyone who dares to question their warmongering bullroar. Too bad. The leaders of this world cannot cower in fear, from a few criminal thugs when the world is at stake.

We can recover from Iraq in a few decades. However, I don't know if the world can recover from additional BushCo war crimes. This must stop. It has to.

God bless ElBaradei, and I hope many other world leaders voice their opposition to the evil that they are planning.

[electron_blue]

8. Great! As a reminder, IAEA said Iraq was *not* a threat in Jan 03

and Bush lied and said that IAEA said Iraq was a threat. Nobody (important) called him on that lie. Moral of the story is - k&r this to the hills.

[Raiden]

9. This is eerily reminiscent of Hans Blix's reports re: Iraq

The parallels are certainly alarming... What is Bush gonna do now? :scared:

[Pachamama]

11. The term "Deja Vu" comes to mind....

:eyes:

[anakie]

10. Hans Blix revisited

n/t

[HuffleClaw]

12. should be funny to see fox spin this into a pro-admin story

"Our assessment is that there is no immediate threat," the winner of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize told a forum organized by the Monterey Institute of International Studies south of San Francisco. "We still have lots of time to investigate."

ok, now the FOXified version: "Iran a threat, says elbaradei: wants more investigation" . . .

[endarkenment]

13. US in direct violation of NPT: when will ElBaradei speak out?

The nuclear powers are REQUIRED to disarm under the terms of the NPT. Not only are we not disarming, we are re-arming our nuclear force. The hypocrisy is glaring.

[TexasLawyer]

14. Notice this story was NOT in the papers today

Not in the NYT, not in the Houston Chronicle, the two daily papers I get.

But watch Ahmadinejad's latest rant get front page coverage tomorrow. Just my prediction.

[The Stranger]

15. Stop the murdering, lying, theiving, torturing, massacring Neocons.