Ray

__________________


"Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

HAKUNA MATATA

Dreadnought

IMO opinion they are doing nothing but buying time. However the clock is still running.

Leader

"America can take part in international bidding for the construction of Iran’s nuclear power plant if they observe the basic standards and quality,"

LOL Know your enemy. The Iranians don't.

__________________

Ray

Leader

We can only hope, but unelected, unchallenged leaders tend to have difficulty seeing their mistakes.

Monk

“ElBaradei should not politicise issues,” Asefi said. “He knows that Iran has not diverted in its nuclear programme. Some of the words that he said were not correct at all. It would be better for him not to have many interviews.”

Exactly my feelings on El baradei.

But the US could use this opportunity to better solve this crisis. If the US built the reactor with all the applicable safeguards everyone could breathe easier.

__________________
"Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those others that have been tried from time to time. "

"Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed."

Sir Winston Churchill

Dreadnought

Yeah with a primary safegaurd if they attempt to extract uranium for bomb making purposes it blows up in their face immediately

If they need power so much there are several other ways proven then nuclear power. Such as windfarms, cogen plants etc. No need at all for a heavywater nuclear reactor which is what they are after.

Lets face it guys they are doing nothing but trying to buy time. And the morons at the U.N. will follow suite and we will be looking at this very problem same time next year until someone drags them closer to the fire that is raging over this. Yeah lets continue to talk all the while they continue to process and extract what they need to build a bomb.
That idiot thinks that if he offers the U.S. an oppertunity to construct it they can justify the building of it and the extraction process to match. Nice try but the clock still ticks.... He must think we are as stupid as the people that actually put him in power to begin with.

Commando

The inability for the UN to act leaves the responsibility on one countries shoulders. The USA. Then we never stop hearing the whining about America trying to police the world. With the inefficency of the UN they have to. The United Nations is just one big argument.

Horrido

I say place a bid, win, let them know that cooperation is dependent upon full transparency and spy the living daylights out of them. It's a leg-in to turn that theocratic wasteland on its head and put power to its citizens where it belongs. Worse comes to worse, we'll have had guys on the ground to get some very good GPS data for JDAM's to use at a later date. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

__________________
The black flag is raised: Ban them all... Let the Admin sort them out.

I know I'm going to have the last word... I have powers of deletion and lock.

dalem

I agree. Call their bluff.

-dale

Ray

EvilRoySlade

If we don't build them some other country will. It's good money in Nuke plants.

Leader

What you're leaving out is the possibility that they'll get destroyed before completion.

Swift Sword

I think that is a fine idea. The idea that Iran could have a research and power reactor with the fuel handling services under somebody else's control has been floated for several years by various parties. I always felt it was a reasonable compromise (and as a satisfied shareholder of the United States Uranium Enrichment Corporation, I know just how it would work ).

At the rate things are going, Iran is going to have a nuclear reactor and if we fail to properly engage them they are probably going to have a nuclear bomb sooner or later. Sure the US and Israel could attempt to militarily pre empt them, but that would probably aggravate the situation.

Many of you, and me for that matter, are appalled by the **** coming from this Ahmadijed character's mouth but we should not let emotion cloud our judgement.

When we look beyond the garbage being purveyed by the nationalist ideologues in Washington and Tehran applying rational, logical scrutiny to the regional and global security climate, Iran appears to be the best tool for the US to forward its interests.

How often have we seen two children who fought bitterly in the schoolyard grow to young men co-captaining the winning football team?

The US has to accomplish three fundamental goals in its quest for stability, reform and prosperity in the Middle East and Central Asia:

1. Solve the Arab-Israeli conflict (easier said than done, naturally, but it would remove a huge source of friction between Isalm and "the West" which would take the wind out of the sails of our enemies);

2. Alter the strategic equation in the region (getting access to the global economy for many of these states so they can monetize resource assets and gain capital for development of infrastructure and stable institutions is a key component of this idea);

3. Engage governments in the region in the development and implementation of robust counterproliferation and counterterror regimes.

Iran is clearly a pivotal player in all three of these areas so it would be foolish to not take advantage of their position.

If Mr. Nixon could go to China, than President Bush can--and should--send somebody to Tehran. As it stands, the United States has abdicated leadership to its strategic competitors which is a distinct discredit to the Bush Administration and potentially harmful to American interests.

I agree with Horrido: if the Iranians are going to have a nuclear reactor, than it should not be a Russian reactor, it should not be a Chinese reactor, it should and needs to be an American reactor!

__________________
Pharoh was pimp but now he is dead. What are you going to do today?

Monk

I have been a proponent and supporter of this idea for a long time. The US can play a very pivotal role in this issue. They could actually get involved in this nuke project, keep it under tight control and could probably weed the mullahs out of power. Of the choices US has, war would be a poor alternative.