Report on Iran May Scupper Future Sanctions
Oppose Neo-Fascism's Aggression | 13.12.2007 00:06 | Anti-militarism | World
Report on Iran may scupper future sanctions
Tom Baldwin in Washington
Britain and France, President Bush’s chief European allies, fear that last week’s US intelligence report stating that Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons programme will be “counter-productive” in securing tighter UN sanctions against the Tehran regime.
(Not only that, but the very single-source of the allegations has cast doubt on claims that Iran ever actually had such a program. The NIE actually proves that there is no need for sanctions, but of course, the US is only using the UN to try to create a 'legal' basis whereby they can attack Iran.)
A draft Security Council resolution being discussed yesterday by officials from the US, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany would extend punitive measures - including travel bans and the seizure of assets - to the 15,000-strong Quds force, as well as dozens of named individuals.
Although the document does not go as far as the US Administration - which recently imposed sweeping sanctions against the entire 125,000-member Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Quds Force, and three banks - it would represent a significant escalation in the diplomatic pressure being exerted on Iran.
(Russia and China are currently saying they will not allow any new sanctions.)
European diplomatic sources in Washington said yesterday that they were mystified at the timing of last week’s publication of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), which declared that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons programme four years ago.
(Which sources? Did they comment on the information in the NIE, or just try to distract?)
Britain’s own intelligence is understood to put more emphasis on Iran’s continuing efforts to make highly enriched uranium – the key material needed for a nuclear bomb – and suggests that any weapons programme could be restarted at relatively short notice.
('Understood' by whom? The Jeruslam Post made a similar claim, but they would not source the allegation, much less provide evidence.)
London is nonetheless encouraged that the NIE’s publication effectively takes military options off the table.
Key figures such as Robert Gates, the Defence Secretary, and Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, are also said to be keen to counter the bellicose language coming from more hawkish colleagues.
One official suggested that publication of the NIE document may have had more to do with internal battles within the US Administration or an intelligence community still shaken from its failures to anticipate 9/11, or discover the truth about Iraq’s missing weapons of mass destruction.
(Who was this 'one official'? 'Shaken from its failures to anticipate 9/11'? This 'one official' is really desperate to undo the facts. The evidence says the intelligence community was intentionally kept from stopping 9/11, which appears to have been a plot carried out by PNAC, the CIA, and the Mossad. No doubt the intelligence community - which actually DID 'discover the truth about Iraq's NON-EXISTENT weapons, but was kept from sharing the truth at the behest of the criminals in DC - remembers how they were used by Bush/PNAC as a scapegoat for their LIES and betrayal of the public.)
However, another well-placed diplomatic source said: “What has this achieved? They did not need to put the NIE out last week. The danger is that this has made it much harder to get Russia and China to sign up for a new resolution [at the UN] and that in ten years’ time Iran is more likely, not less, to have nuclear weapons.”
(And who is THIS 'diplomatic source'? Wonder which country he's from ... The evidence contradicts his statement.)
President Sarkozy of France is said to be particularly determined that the NIE report does not lead the international community “down a cul-de-sac”.
(But he's a known Mossad asset, so who cares?)
Kurt Volker, a senior official at the US State Department, told The Times yesterday that the Bush Administration and its European allies “remained focused” on getting a fresh UN resolution. Iran, he said, continues to develop highly enriched uranium and a delivery system through missile technology. “Weaponisation can come back at any time and we think the risk remains very high,” he said.
(The intelligence community disagrees. This was highlighted in bold letters on the first page of the report.)
Asked why the NIE report was published last week, he said: “You cannot risk sitting on intelligence information. We cannot risk the accusation that we are manipulating intelligence for political reasons.”
Mr Volker suggested that the NIE report should not be seen as a “cause for comfort” by Security Council members such as Russia and China which are thought to be unwilling to support stronger sanctions against Iran. “Those who are dragging their feet,” he said, “are doing so because they want to drag their feet.”
(No, they know the US and Israel are simply trying to leverage an excuse for war, and Russia and China know that the evidence contradicts these warmongers.)
Yesterday President Ahmadinejad of Iran hailed last week’s intelligence report as “a positive step” that could help to end decades of enmity between his country and the West.
“If they take one or two more such steps, the issues will be totally changed and . . . the way will be paved for the resolution of regional and bilateral issues,” he told a news conference.
The US report
— Iran halted its nuclear weapons programme in 2003 and, as of mid-2007, had not restarted it
— The programme was halted in response to international pressure
("Laptop of Death"-Claims of Past Iranian Weapons Program In Doubt
The entire claim that Iran was building nuclear weapons rests on a laptop provided by a dubious source.
http://winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?8836S )
— Iran would be technically capable of producing enough highly enriched uranium for a weapon by late 2009, but this is unlikely; 2010-15 is more likely
(If they decided to do this, which they haven't. The IAEA says they haven't even been able to produce enough to generate electricity. Weaponization requires at least tenfold the amount, and would require a vastly increased program to achieve this.)
— It still faces significant problems operating the centrifuges needed to make enriched uranium
— Iran may have imported some weapons-grade fuel but not enough to make a weapon
(And it's for their power program, not weapons.)
— Any production of highly enriched uranium for weapons would probably take place at a covert facility, not a declared site
(But it would be fairly easy to identify, as this would involve a massive contruction effort, easily viewable by any number of spy satellites the US (and others) have placed over Iranian territory.)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3037599.ece
Again, the reaction to, and spin on the NIE only proves that the drive of Israeli and American 'Neo-Con' Extremists for war, plotted at the same time as plans for an assault on Iraq, have absolutely nothing to do with this program, or Iran's current leader.
Olmert upbeat on anti-Iran drive
Published: 12/12/2007
Ehud Olmert said a U.S. intelligence report will not undermine international pressure on Iran to curb its uranium enrichment.
The Israeli prime minister told an international conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday that this month's National Intelligence Estimate, which said Iran shelved its nuclear weapons project in 2003, "generated an exaggerated debate" worldwide.
"Some of us even interpreted the report as an American retreat from its support of Israel. This is groundless," Olmert said.
(And we told US officials that when he summoned them yesterday.)
"The United States led the global campaign against Iran and mobilized its full international strength to set in motion the adoption by the U.N. Security Council of two resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran, since America was convinced that Iran constitutes a real threat to peace in the region and to vital American interests," he noted.
(Actually, since it knows that Aggression is 'the Supreme International Crime' - not that it cares, but in the eyes of the world .... - and is attempting to leverage an excuse for war, as it has with UN resolutions in the past. Several investigations are currently underway probing allegations that the US used coercion to get reluctant states to vote with it at the UN.)
"This has not changed. Not because I say so: The Americans say so, and the British, the Germans and the French say so as well."
Olmert reasserted Israel's belief that Iranian uranium enrichment plants could produce enough fissile material for a bomb by 2010. The intelligence report said the process would likely take several more years.
(And this could not be done in Iran's current program. It would have to be greatly expanded, and this would be immediately visible.)
It has been widely speculated that the report took the U.S. military option against Iran off the table, and that Israel would be unlikely to launch pre-emptive strikes alone. Olmert did not mention this, saying only that Israel continues to believe in the power of sanctions.
http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/105839.html
Sarkozy joins the 'There's No NIE, Let's Go To War' Club:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1196847320451&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Sarkozy A Mossad Asset
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.lefigaro.fr/france/20071012.FIG000000291_les_etranges_accusations_d_un_cybercorbeau.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=8&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsarkozy%2B-%2Bmossad%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3DdHW%26sa%3DN
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=157661
Now let me get this straight.
Instead of rejoicing in the fact that it does not appear that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, these warmongers in London and DC "...fear that last week’s US intelligence report stating that Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons program will be “counter-productive” in securing tighter UN sanctions against the Tehran regime."?
Forgive me, but why attempt to invoke sanctions when there's no nuclear weapons program to begin with?
The US and UK had to understand that this was going to be a non-starter to begin with, even without the NIE report, because Russia and China would never go along with this.
And with Russia having publicly stated that any attack on Iran will be interpreted as an attack against Russia, which sane government leaders really wants to go to war with Russia?
Israeli Extremists Brief Top U.S. Official on Iran
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/12/387631.html
Tom Baldwin in Washington
Britain and France, President Bush’s chief European allies, fear that last week’s US intelligence report stating that Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons programme will be “counter-productive” in securing tighter UN sanctions against the Tehran regime.
(Not only that, but the very single-source of the allegations has cast doubt on claims that Iran ever actually had such a program. The NIE actually proves that there is no need for sanctions, but of course, the US is only using the UN to try to create a 'legal' basis whereby they can attack Iran.)
A draft Security Council resolution being discussed yesterday by officials from the US, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany would extend punitive measures - including travel bans and the seizure of assets - to the 15,000-strong Quds force, as well as dozens of named individuals.
Although the document does not go as far as the US Administration - which recently imposed sweeping sanctions against the entire 125,000-member Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Quds Force, and three banks - it would represent a significant escalation in the diplomatic pressure being exerted on Iran.
(Russia and China are currently saying they will not allow any new sanctions.)
European diplomatic sources in Washington said yesterday that they were mystified at the timing of last week’s publication of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), which declared that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons programme four years ago.
(Which sources? Did they comment on the information in the NIE, or just try to distract?)
Britain’s own intelligence is understood to put more emphasis on Iran’s continuing efforts to make highly enriched uranium – the key material needed for a nuclear bomb – and suggests that any weapons programme could be restarted at relatively short notice.
('Understood' by whom? The Jeruslam Post made a similar claim, but they would not source the allegation, much less provide evidence.)
London is nonetheless encouraged that the NIE’s publication effectively takes military options off the table.
Key figures such as Robert Gates, the Defence Secretary, and Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, are also said to be keen to counter the bellicose language coming from more hawkish colleagues.
One official suggested that publication of the NIE document may have had more to do with internal battles within the US Administration or an intelligence community still shaken from its failures to anticipate 9/11, or discover the truth about Iraq’s missing weapons of mass destruction.
(Who was this 'one official'? 'Shaken from its failures to anticipate 9/11'? This 'one official' is really desperate to undo the facts. The evidence says the intelligence community was intentionally kept from stopping 9/11, which appears to have been a plot carried out by PNAC, the CIA, and the Mossad. No doubt the intelligence community - which actually DID 'discover the truth about Iraq's NON-EXISTENT weapons, but was kept from sharing the truth at the behest of the criminals in DC - remembers how they were used by Bush/PNAC as a scapegoat for their LIES and betrayal of the public.)
However, another well-placed diplomatic source said: “What has this achieved? They did not need to put the NIE out last week. The danger is that this has made it much harder to get Russia and China to sign up for a new resolution [at the UN] and that in ten years’ time Iran is more likely, not less, to have nuclear weapons.”
(And who is THIS 'diplomatic source'? Wonder which country he's from ... The evidence contradicts his statement.)
President Sarkozy of France is said to be particularly determined that the NIE report does not lead the international community “down a cul-de-sac”.
(But he's a known Mossad asset, so who cares?)
Kurt Volker, a senior official at the US State Department, told The Times yesterday that the Bush Administration and its European allies “remained focused” on getting a fresh UN resolution. Iran, he said, continues to develop highly enriched uranium and a delivery system through missile technology. “Weaponisation can come back at any time and we think the risk remains very high,” he said.
(The intelligence community disagrees. This was highlighted in bold letters on the first page of the report.)
Asked why the NIE report was published last week, he said: “You cannot risk sitting on intelligence information. We cannot risk the accusation that we are manipulating intelligence for political reasons.”
Mr Volker suggested that the NIE report should not be seen as a “cause for comfort” by Security Council members such as Russia and China which are thought to be unwilling to support stronger sanctions against Iran. “Those who are dragging their feet,” he said, “are doing so because they want to drag their feet.”
(No, they know the US and Israel are simply trying to leverage an excuse for war, and Russia and China know that the evidence contradicts these warmongers.)
Yesterday President Ahmadinejad of Iran hailed last week’s intelligence report as “a positive step” that could help to end decades of enmity between his country and the West.
“If they take one or two more such steps, the issues will be totally changed and . . . the way will be paved for the resolution of regional and bilateral issues,” he told a news conference.
The US report
— Iran halted its nuclear weapons programme in 2003 and, as of mid-2007, had not restarted it
— The programme was halted in response to international pressure
("Laptop of Death"-Claims of Past Iranian Weapons Program In Doubt
The entire claim that Iran was building nuclear weapons rests on a laptop provided by a dubious source.
http://winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?8836S ) — Iran would be technically capable of producing enough highly enriched uranium for a weapon by late 2009, but this is unlikely; 2010-15 is more likely
(If they decided to do this, which they haven't. The IAEA says they haven't even been able to produce enough to generate electricity. Weaponization requires at least tenfold the amount, and would require a vastly increased program to achieve this.)
— It still faces significant problems operating the centrifuges needed to make enriched uranium
— Iran may have imported some weapons-grade fuel but not enough to make a weapon
(And it's for their power program, not weapons.)
— Any production of highly enriched uranium for weapons would probably take place at a covert facility, not a declared site
(But it would be fairly easy to identify, as this would involve a massive contruction effort, easily viewable by any number of spy satellites the US (and others) have placed over Iranian territory.)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3037599.ece Again, the reaction to, and spin on the NIE only proves that the drive of Israeli and American 'Neo-Con' Extremists for war, plotted at the same time as plans for an assault on Iraq, have absolutely nothing to do with this program, or Iran's current leader.
Olmert upbeat on anti-Iran drive
Published: 12/12/2007
Ehud Olmert said a U.S. intelligence report will not undermine international pressure on Iran to curb its uranium enrichment.
The Israeli prime minister told an international conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday that this month's National Intelligence Estimate, which said Iran shelved its nuclear weapons project in 2003, "generated an exaggerated debate" worldwide.
"Some of us even interpreted the report as an American retreat from its support of Israel. This is groundless," Olmert said.
(And we told US officials that when he summoned them yesterday.)
"The United States led the global campaign against Iran and mobilized its full international strength to set in motion the adoption by the U.N. Security Council of two resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran, since America was convinced that Iran constitutes a real threat to peace in the region and to vital American interests," he noted.
(Actually, since it knows that Aggression is 'the Supreme International Crime' - not that it cares, but in the eyes of the world .... - and is attempting to leverage an excuse for war, as it has with UN resolutions in the past. Several investigations are currently underway probing allegations that the US used coercion to get reluctant states to vote with it at the UN.)
"This has not changed. Not because I say so: The Americans say so, and the British, the Germans and the French say so as well."
Olmert reasserted Israel's belief that Iranian uranium enrichment plants could produce enough fissile material for a bomb by 2010. The intelligence report said the process would likely take several more years.
(And this could not be done in Iran's current program. It would have to be greatly expanded, and this would be immediately visible.)
It has been widely speculated that the report took the U.S. military option against Iran off the table, and that Israel would be unlikely to launch pre-emptive strikes alone. Olmert did not mention this, saying only that Israel continues to believe in the power of sanctions.
http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/105839.html Sarkozy joins the 'There's No NIE, Let's Go To War' Club:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1196847320451&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Sarkozy A Mossad Asset
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.lefigaro.fr/france/20071012.FIG000000291_les_etranges_accusations_d_un_cybercorbeau.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=8&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsarkozy%2B-%2Bmossad%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3DdHW%26sa%3DN http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=157661 Now let me get this straight.
Instead of rejoicing in the fact that it does not appear that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, these warmongers in London and DC "...fear that last week’s US intelligence report stating that Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons program will be “counter-productive” in securing tighter UN sanctions against the Tehran regime."?
Forgive me, but why attempt to invoke sanctions when there's no nuclear weapons program to begin with?
The US and UK had to understand that this was going to be a non-starter to begin with, even without the NIE report, because Russia and China would never go along with this.
And with Russia having publicly stated that any attack on Iran will be interpreted as an attack against Russia, which sane government leaders really wants to go to war with Russia?
Israeli Extremists Brief Top U.S. Official on Iran
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/12/387631.html
Oppose Neo-Fascism's Aggression