Posted on 06/22/2004 7:16:49 PM PDT by FormerACLUmember
The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, Mohammed ElBaradei, has warned of a "race against time" to stop terrorists procuring nuclear materials. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency was speaking at a US conference hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
He endorsed the influential think tank's new arms control plan.
Under the plan, major nuclear powers would be expected to make concessions in the interests of global security.
We are actually having a race against time which I don't think we can afford.
Mohammed ElBaradei, The IAEA director warned there was a real danger of uranium or plutonium falling into the wrong hands.
"We are actually having a race against time which I don't think we can afford," he said.
"The danger is so imminent... not only with regard to countries acquiring nuclear weapons but also terrorists getting their hands on some of these nuclear materials, uranium or plutonium.
"So the sooner that we start, the better for everybody involved."
The nuclear watchdog chief's message was picked up by the US Senator Sam Nunn, a security expert.
Mr Nunn told the BBC that the security of nuclear material in Russia was a key concern.
He said the biggest challenge was to have US President George W Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin put the issue to the top of their agenda.
Mr Nunn was instrumental in last month's unveiling of a multi-million dollar initiative to stop extremist groups from building so called "dirty bombs" with nuclear material.
Governments around the world are becoming increasingly concerned about nuclear proliferation particularly since the revelations, in February of this year, that the Pakistani nuclear scientist AQ Khan had passed on nuclear secrets to a number of countries.
One of the authors of the Carnegie Endowment's plan, Joseph Cirincione, said the world was at "a nuclear tipping point".
The BBC's diplomatic correspondent in Washington, Jonathan Marcus, says the Carnegie plan is certainly ambitious in scope.
It argues that all current nuclear arms control problems need to be put into a single pot and handled together.
Everyone - both the nuclear haves and have-nots - have to be seen to make concessions if all are to gain.
But our correspondent says other experts in Washington are not so sure.
Political capital, they say, is limited and needs to be focused on individual proliferation, problems like that between India and Pakistan or the continuing uncertainties surrounding Iran's nuclear ambitions.
No sh!t, Sherlock. How about you make yourself useful and Fedex 'Senator' Kerry a clue.
"The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, Mohammed ElBaradei.."
Does it occur to anyone else that 'Mohammed ElBaradei' MIGHT not be objective in his search for nuclear weapons amongst his Islamic Bretheren?
The democrats are truly the enemies of our nation, beginning with their sale of our nation's crown jewels of missle and nuclear technology to the ChiComs for millions in bribe money... all the way to their de facto alliance with al Queda, seeking to oust Bush.
Allu Akbar! Yeah, Mohammed El Baradei might be a liitle suspicious!
The solution is simple. IF there is any nuclear terror anywhere, North Korea turns into a glowing crater.
I guarantee that if we make this promise, and make it clear we mean it, and actually DO mean it, we'll start getting a ton of info on nuclear trafficking.
Thanks for your post!
This issue has been the most understated problem since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
If anyone here remembers, Scientific American ran a series of articles during the early 90's authored by the "Union of Concerned Scientists".
Their premise was that the world was a MUCH more dangerous place after the fall of the Soviet Union, because of just the kinds of things that are happening now.
The terrorism threat is overstated, Mr.Kerry?
It is NOT POSSIBLE to overstate the threat we will soon face.
With the help of the Demoncrats it will be sooner than you think. Under Clinton they gutted our military and intelligence. If Kerry gets in there is no telling what he'll do.
A vote for Kerry is a vote for terrorism.
Quote of the day. Dead on accurate.
We should proclaim officially that any nuclear or other WMD attack on the USA will be considered an attack by Saudi Arabia and ALL Islamic nations, who may be therefore conquered and enslaved or annihilated at our discretion. The UN (= united nothingness) does not get a vote. In any event, Saudi Arabia is destroyed and its oil fields conquered. Syria is destroyed. Iran is destroyed. Yemen is destroyed. Sudan is destroyed. The kill ratio must be at least 10,000 to one.
Yes. And a vote for ANY rat is also a vote for terrorism.
Someone must have slapped Fat Boy awake (Ted Kennedy to all you who can't hear Howie Carr's radio show)and pointed him towards this issue for THIS week.
There must be more info coming out about Clintoon's selling of secrets to China, etc., because THIS week, Teddy Bare says it is "ALL BUSH'S FAULT"....
Most frightening.
ummm...excuse me...but
what about Iran? You know how they hate to be left out of anything...
John F. Kennedy's corpse just vaporized spiining at Mach 7 in his grave over Fat Boy Teddy's virulent anti-Americanism.
oops - I see you already invited them to the party...
After the first successful nuclear attack on a U.S. city, it will be interesting to see how the Abu Ghraib investigations are going.
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