It’s pretty frightening. Our government is now offically dictating to Russia what it can and cannot propose to Iran to resolve the crisis over Iran’s plans to enrich uranium:
VIENNA, Austria (CNN) — A Russian proposal to allow Iran to enrich a small amount of uranium on its soil has been shot down by U.S. officials, diplomats close to the International Atomic Energy Agency told CNN.
The proposal was floated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is in Washington and is scheduled to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House later Tuesday.
Remember we are talking about very small scale enrichment, a research project with a mere 16 centrifuges. You would need several thousand centrifuges all linked together in order to produce sufficient quantities of bomb grade uranium for a genuine weapons program. Iran is essentially still at the research stage, and it has many technological hurdles to overcome before it achieves the ability to truly produce atomic weapons. Yet, our diplomats are refusing to allow Russia to advance a proposal that would limit Iran to even this small level of enrichment. Why?
Cheney, speaking to the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, also reaffirmed that the United States was keeping all options on the table in its determination to prevent Iran from developing nuclear arms.
“The Iranian regime needs to know that if it stays on its present course the international community is prepared to impose meaningful consequences,” Cheney said.
Cheney spoke as the 35-nation International Atomic Energy Agency governing board was meeting in Vienna to decide its next steps on Iran and as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks on the issue with U.S. leaders in Washington.
“For our part, the United States is keeping all options on the table. … We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Cheney said.
Senior U.S. officials have repeatedly refused to rule out the use of force, saying “all options are on the table.”
Plain and simple, Bush, Cheney, Bolton and Rumsfeld want war.
There is no crisis which requires war. There is no imminent threat of Iran acquiring nukes which justifies what would be the greatest threat to world peace in our lifetime. The Russian proposal would have given Iran a face saving means to back away from this situation without damaging their national pride. The fact the Bush and Co. squelched the Russian plan before it could even get started tells you all you need to know about what they want.
