Posted on 01/17/2006 10:10:01 AM PST by robowombat
Rice Says World Must Act Fast Against Iran
Sue Pleming, The Star: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday Iran "crossed the threshold" with its recent nuclear actions and the world must act fast to send Tehran to the U.N. Security Council.
The Security Council's five permanent members and Germany are holding talks in London on Monday in search of a common strategy to tackle Iran's resumption of atomic fuel research and development after a two-year moratorium.
Rice said the United States wanted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to hold an emergency meeting as soon as possible, fearing if IAEA members waited until a scheduled meeting in March this would give Iran a chance to further "obfuscate" over its nuclear weapons plans. READ MORE
"We just can't let them do that," she told reporters traveling with her to Liberia for the inauguration of Africa's first woman president.
Tehran denies Western accusations it is trying to build nuclear weapons under cover of an atomic power programme and says it only wants to generate electricity.
Rice said she had "very good" conversations with many IAEA foreign ministers over the weekend and she was optimistic of their support in referring Iran to the Security Council where it could ultimately face sanctions.
"We have got to finally demonstrate to Iran that it can't with impunity just cast aside the just demands of the international community," Rice told reporters, without specifying which ministers she had spoken to or which countries backed an immediate referral.
"There is some work to do because you would like there to be a strong consensus for a vote. But whatever the numbers of the vote, I don't think there is any doubt that people are quite clear that Iran has crossed the threshold," she added.
The United States and European powers taking the lead against Iran -- France, Germany and Britain -- need the support of Russia and China to get Iran referred to the Security Council.
Rice would not be drawn on whether she thought the U.S. had the support of Russia or China, but she said Moscow voiced strong disappointment after Iran removed U.N. seals at its uranium-enrichment plant and resumed nuclear fuel research last week.
In addition, Iran had spurned Russia's offer to help Tehran meet its civilian nuclear needs without increasing proliferation risks, she added.
While countries might have "various tactics" in dealing with Iran, she said no nation had spoken out in favour of Iran. "They are getting nothing but condemnation."
On Sunday, Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona said the United States might ultimately have to undertake a military strike to deter Iran.
Asked about military options and whether force should be used now or at least threatened against Iran, Rice reiterated that the current focus was on diplomacy.
"I don't think it helps really to speculate. We have said all along that the president always keeps all of his options but the course that we are on is the diplomatic course."
She said it was unlikely that Iran could stand the kind of isolation that would result from Security Council action.
"They are putting a lot at risk here and I am hopeful and hoping with others that when this regime recognizes or faces the fact that it is about to be really pretty fundamentally isolated that they will reconsider their options," said Rice.
I would hope that our military assets are already in place - Iran has not been sitting quietly in the corner since the Iraq war, and it has even managed to cause considerable problems for us in Iraq with its timed releases of AQ nutcases across its border.
The longer we wait, the worse it's going to be. That said, I don't know enough to have any thoughts about how or when we should go about it; still, this is obviously something in which delay is probably going to benefit them more than it will benefit us.
Iraq built the Osirak nuclear facility near Baghdad with French assistance. When intelligence confirmed Iraq's intention of producing weapons there, the Israeli government decided to attack. However, the raid would have to occur before the reactor went hot so as not to endanger the surrounding community.
Every detail of the mission was planned meticulously. The target was distant: 1,100 km from Israel. Preparations included building target mockups and flying full scale dressrehearsal missions. The aircrews were selected from the cream of the Israel Air Force's (IAF) fighter corps.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ChiefofStaff, Lt. Gen. Rafael (Raful) Eitan, briefed the pilots personally. Displaying unusual emotion, he told them: The alternative is our destruction.
At 15:55 on June 7, the first F15 and F16's roared off the runway from Etzion Air Force Base in the south. After a tense but uneventful lowlevel navigation route, the fighters reached their target. They popped up at 17:35 and quickly identified the dome gleaming in the late afternoon sunlight.
Enemy defenses were caught by surprise and opened fire too late. In one minute and twenty seconds, the reactor lay in ruins.
The way home was quiet, bringing the mission to its successful completion. It was a perfectly orchestrated opera conducted by the IAF Commander, Maj. Gen. David Ivry. At least for the present, the atomic genie of Baghdad was put back into his bottle.
Iran knows what they are going to do and knows when they're going to do it. That's their advantage.
Somebody needs to put Iran back in its bottle, but the problem is that Iran has actually learned from the earlier strikes on Islamic weaponry. (The Iranians are not Arabs, which may explain their ability to learn and develop - pity they don't use it for more positive ends!)
I gather their weapons sites are now very dispersed - and, since we have a track record of avoiding mosques and residential areas, guess where they are?
I know. I think you've summed it up.
In the meantime, we're just waiting to respond, assuming that their first attack is going to be pretty feeble. Maybe it will be, maybe not. I am hoping that behind the scenes we have a more aggressive plan worked out. Time will tell, I guess.
Iran has learned from the past, but unlike most nations, Israel doesn't waste it's time preparing to fight yesterday's war. The Osirak raid was in 1981; I have all faith that Israel's intelligence and operational capabilities have matured proportionately.
U.N to Iran:
We are very very angry with you. So we are writing you this letter, telling you how angry we are.
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