Iran "Joins the Nuclear Club" -Bird Badinage Ensues

The Morning Paper-Special Edition | 04/13/06 | vanity

[genefromjersey]

Iran “Joins the Nuclear Club” – Badinage of Birds Ensues

Just a few days ago, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pranced about triumphantly before the cameras,brandishing a small cylinder ,and declaring his nation was now a nuclear power.

President Ahmadinejad disclosed that,by using 164 centrifuges,Iranian scientists in the Natanz facility had succeeded in producing a tiny quantity of enriched Uranium – one of the materials from which nuclear bombs can be made.

This declaration produced the sort of effect one might get by tossing a firecracker into a large flock of birds : arguably the exact effect Ahmadinejad was seeking.

The startled birds began squawking,calling , and shrilling almost instantly.

There was a great flock of “ravens” excited by the Iranian announcement. One of this flock-Seymour Hersh – has been regaling the world with stories about “top secret US plans” to bomb Iran into submission: as hungry for the flesh of fallen soldiers as ever the Morrigan was.

Naturally,this flock has taken up the cry; and has “Google-bombed” the Internet with cross-referential links : all dedicated to the premise that an evil neo-con cabal has seized control of the White House, and wishes to plunge the world into bloody war – on behalf of Israel and (Dare I say the name ? ) Halliburton !

Just as an aside, I wonder: If Halliburton is Dick Cheney’s cash cow, how come it’s losing so much money on its Iraqi operations ? Why is it considered such a poor investment ? Why is the price of its stock still so low ?

There are also the strutting “turkeys” of Academia,who wander from one side of the issue to the other ,gabbling incessantly about “Moral Equivalence” ,and fluffing their feathers to gain attention.

I should,of course, mention the “doves”. They circle incessantly, calling out to one another : “Why doesn’t the world negotiate with Iran ?” “Give peace a chance !” and other “useful advice”.

Stephen Rademaker, US Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-Proliferation –(surely a ”blue jay” !)- told reporters in Moscow: “Natanz was constructed to house 50,000 centrifuges. Using those centrifuges,they could produce enough highly-enriched Uranium for a nuclear weapon in 16 days.”

There is, of course, no evidence that Iran has 50,000 centrifuges- at Natanz, or anywhere else ; or that it is likely to obtain this equipment soon – regardless of how big Natanz may be.

The more likely truth is that Iran has a grand total of 164 of these devices,and that it it had to work a great deal longer than 16 days to produce whatever minuscule amount it has on hand; but,rather than admit this somewhat humiliating truth, the Iranians decided to embellish upon it, by declaring they had over 54,000 centrifuges, and were ready to begin “industrial level” enrichment.

( Oh, by the way, follow-up reports this morning indicate Iran has achieved an enrichment ratio of only 3.5% - a far cry from the 70 to 90% enrichment considered to be “bomb – grade”. 3.5 % Uranium is called LEU –Low-enriched Uranium – and is practically an over-the-counter item for countries or companies that run light water reactors.)

Iran is a problem – and has been a problem for longer than some who read this have been alive ; but I doubt the "“Mad Mullahs" pose anything like a nuclear threat at this time, or in the very near future: bird calls notwithstanding.

[Rummyfan]

Don't see any way around us going to war with Iran. Even disregarding the nuclear developments, they have been actively sponsoring terrorism for the last thirty years. Iraq was justa prelude. We've been fighting the Tattaglias all this time - time to go after Barzini!

[genefromjersey]

Mahmoud sleeps with the fishes,huh ?

[Anti-Bubba182]

"..There is, of course, no evidence that Iran has 50,000 centrifuges- at Natanz, or anywhere else ; or that it is likely to obtain this equipment soon – regardless of how big Natanz may be.

The more likely truth is that Iran has a grand total of 164 of these devices,and that it it had to work a great deal longer than 16 days to produce whatever minuscule amount it has on hand; but,rather than admit this somewhat humiliating truth, the Iranians decided to embellish upon it, by declaring they had over 54,000 centrifuges, and were ready to begin “industrial level” enrichment.."

Iran Vows to Ramp Up Uranium Enrichment

"..Iran resumed research on enrichment at Natanz in February. Saeedi said scientists there slowly built up the number of centrifuges in the cascade. On Sunday, they succeeded in enriching an amount of uranium to contain 3.5 percent of the isotope uranium-235 _ the proportion needed for reactor fuel _ using 164 centrifuges.

Enriching uranium to the much higher levels needed for a nuclear warhead is even more difficult, requiring tens of thousands of centrifuges or much longer periods of time.

Iran is believed to have enough black-market components in storage now to build the 1,500 operating centrifuges it would need to make the 45 pounds of highly enriched uranium needed for one crude weapon..."

[Rummyfan]

Something like that!