Posted on 02/16/2006 5:00:03 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Big mistake.. The Mullahs gone and done it.
You don't just peez off the FRench and get awouiii with it, you 'no.
We should let the world know how we'd respond. First, tell them that we still believe in MAD. That means that if a nuclear state attacks us with a nuclear weapon, we fire off a retaliation designed to destroy the source nation. That they don't have enough warheads to destroy us is not our problem. Second, if a terrorist or rogue nuclear weapon goes off, we attack all the rogue and terrorist aiding states that have nuclear weapons or the potential to make them -- that includes Iran, North Korea, and Pakistan. Again, we attack with total destruction in mind. If China or Russia wants to make noise to stop us, we'll have no qualms about tossing nuclear weapons in their direction, either. Finally, we really need to transfer nuclear know-how to Japan and they need to revise their constitution ASAP so they deal with North Korea or China as needed without the US to back them up.
We should probably also tell Russia that we are pulling out of the SALT agreements and fire up our assembly lines for nuclear weapons. We may be needing quite a few of them because we may have a lot of ground to cover. And, yes, I'm serious. Any stability that people think we have is either an illusion or will be very soon.
In Washington, the House voted 404-4 on Thursday to approve a non-binding resolution expressing support for efforts to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council. The Senate already approved the symbolic legislation, which imposes no legal consequences on Iran.
---
---- NAYS 4 ---
Kucinich
McDermott
Paul
Stark
---- ANSWERED “PRESENT” 4 ---
Abercrombie
Capuano
Kaptur
Lee
---- NOT VOTING 20 ---
Berman
Bishop (UT)
Blumenauer
Campbell (CA)
Carson
Cummings
Davis (IL)
Evans
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hunter
McKinney
Miller, Gary
Osborne
Rangel
Simpson
Wamp
Wasserman Schultz
Westmoreland
Woolsey
What are the French going to do about it? NOTHING!
Russia=USSR2
"I recommend that Mr. Douste-Blazy speak in diplomatic terms and avoid increasing tension," Iranian state-run television quoted him as saying. "The motivation of the French foreign minister behind his new comments is ambiguous to us. But it is in the interests of the region that the West adopts a logical stance toward Iran's nuclear activities."
That's almost funny if the Iranian leadership weren't all insane.
The vote should have been 435 - 0...
February 16, 2006 at 22:31:13 PST
France Accuses Iran of Making Nuclear Arms
************************************
By JOHN LEICESTER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS (AP) -
France accused Iran on Thursday of secretly making nuclear weapons, ditching Europe's traditional diplomatic caution for bluntness in remarks that echoed the tough U.S. stance on Iran's disputed nuclear program.
The accusation from French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy - which Iran quickly denied - appeared to reflect mounting exasperation and a tougher stance by one of three key European negotiators.
"No civilian nuclear program can explain the Iranian nuclear program. It is a clandestine military nuclear program," Douste-Blazy said on France-2 television.
By contrast, though, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that she was "truly optimistic, I would even say very optimistic, that we can do everything to solve this conflict with diplomatic means."
Britain's foreign secretary, Jack Straw, also erred on the side of caution, saying "there are strong suspicions internationally that Iran may be seeking ... to develop a nuclear weapons capability" but "we do not have absolute proof."
The board of the International Atomic Energy Agency voted last month to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council, but Russia, a close ally of Iran, insisted that the council not take up the file until March. Last week, Iran resumed small-scale uranium enrichment, insisting the program is for nuclear energy, not arms, but still heightening tensions.
In Washington, the House voted 404-4 on Thursday to approve a non-binding resolution expressing support for efforts to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council. The Senate already approved the symbolic legislation, which imposes no legal consequences on Iran.
The next big test comes at Iranian-Russian talks starting Monday in Moscow on a Russian proposal to move Iran's enrichment program to Russia and abandon enrichment on Iranian soil for a significant period of time.
The proposal is meant to allay fears that Tehran might misuse the technology to make nuclear arms. Tensions over Iran are likely to diminish if Tehran agrees to the Russian proposal - and to balloon if it does not.
A deputy Russian foreign minister, Alexander Alekseyev, said Thursday that cooperation with China could help push Iran toward accepting Moscow's offer, according to the Interfax news agency. He added, however, that the Iranian nuclear issue recently had become "sharper," and "it is too early to assess the effectiveness of our joint steps to resolve it."
China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya, asked at U.N. headquarters in New York about the Russian proposal, said: "I think it's a way out. I do hope that all sides can agree to that."
"I hope that the meeting next Monday will lead to good results," Wang said.
Merkel, also optimistic, said in an interview to be broadcast by ZDF television that the "diplomatic path has every chance of success."
The French Foreign Ministry insisted that Douste-Blazy's remarks were in line with the European position on Iran, but fellow negotiators Germany and Britain have not spoken so frankly.
"The international community has sent a very firm message in telling the Iranians to return to reason and suspend all nuclear activity and the enrichment and conversion of uranium, but they aren't listening to us," Douste-Blazy said.
"Now it's up to the Security Council to say what it will do, what means it will use to stop, to manage, to halt this terrible crisis of nuclear proliferation caused by Iran," Douste-Blazy said.
Iran's chief negotiator, Ali Larijani, lashed back.
"I recommend that Mr. Douste-Blazy speak in diplomatic terms and avoid increasing tension," he said, according to Iranian state-run television. "The motivation of the French foreign minister behind his new comments is ambiguous to us. But it is in the interests of the region that the West adopts a logical stance toward Iran's nuclear activities."
Georges Le Guelte, a nuclear expert at France's Institute for International and Strategic Research, called Douste-Blazy's statement "remarkable."
"It was not very diplomatic," Le Guelte said.
He called it a powerful message to French companies operating in Iran that have pressured the government to remain cautious.
"All of the doors that were open in terms of negotiations ... are gradually being closed by the Iranians," added Richard Whitman of the Chatham House think tank in London. He said Douste-Blazy's comments reflect "a sense of exasperation with the Iranian government."
The United States, Europe and Russia have stayed together as they seek to pressure Iran.
Russia's top military chief, meanwhile, warned the United States against launching a military strike against Iran, saying "it is hard to predict how the Muslim world will respond."
"This may stir the whole world, and it is crucial to prevent anything like that," Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, the chief of Russia's general staff, was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
---
Associated Press Writers Angela Charlton in Paris, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
--
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.