It probably seems unfair to nutty socialists, excommunists, cazy dicatators and Ismalic apologists that USA has so many nuclear weapons but restricts other countries from making them. I agree- it is very unfair. And although I don't believe in God it makes me think their must be some sort of providence working in the universe so that the US, and not communists or Islamic maniacs or socialist fools hold power.
. Jem: Conclusion with respect to Nuclear Non-proliferation - As long as the U.S. and or other large nations say that Nuclear Non proliferation is the law of nations it is. Especially for smaller weaker nations. ******** February 11, 2006 SouthAmerica: I just give one actual example to show that what you said above is not true. North Korea unsigned their country from the Nuclear Non proliferation treaty and since then they have told a number of times for the United States to get lost. If the United States were so powerful as you are trying to imply then the United States would have done something about it - to prove to the world that the US still has some power. The reason the US has not done something about â it is because the United States is completely powerless â all the United States can do is whine about it. By the way, North Korea is a country small and very weak economically. ******* jem: This same logic applies to all the WMDs you mention. And it certainly applies to Iran and most likely your beloved Brasil. ******* SouthAmerica: Brazil has a well developed and powerful biological weapons program â but that is not the equivalent of having a nuclear weapons program. Today Americans are being scared about a possible Pandemic epidemic. But the people are afraid of it because the pharmaceutical companies are marketing this new fear. ********** jem: In short a fundamental and powerful international norm is that Little countries are not allowed to become nuclear, especially dangerous ones that argue for the destruction of other Nations. ********* SouthAmerica: Here we go again â the United States then should show that it has a little bit of clout left by requiring that Israel gives up its nuclear arsenal. Israel is a little country and conforms to your rules. But I doubt Israel will give up their nukes â the US does not have the balls to disarm North Korea never mind disarm Israel. The only language that the bullies of the world understand is when your country is armed with nuclear weapons. As long North Korea has its nukes â the United States will just bark and make a lot of noise from far away. All a country needs is a few nukes â like in North Korea (They are supposed to have from 6 to 10 nuclear warheads) â to neutralize the 10,000 plus American nuclear warheads. .
Brazil weeks away from nuclear technolgoy. RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - While the world community scrutinizes Iran's nuclear plans, Latin America's biggest country is weeks away from taking a controversial step and firing up the region's first major uranium enrichment plant. That move will make Brazil the ninth country to produce large amounts of enriched uranium, which can be used to generate nuclear energy and, when highly enriched, to make nuclear weapons. Brazilians, who have long nurtured hopes of becoming a world superpower, are reacting with pride to the new facility in Resende, about 70 miles from Rio de Janeiro. Other countries enriching uranium on an industrial scale are the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, China and Japan. The plant initially will produce 60 percent of the nuclear fuel used by the country's two nuclear reactors. A third reactor is in the planning stages. The government hopes to increase production eventually to meet all of the reactors' needs and still have enough to export, Brazilian officials said. "We want to build new power plants and grow our enrichment program to be self-sufficient," said Odair Dias Goncalves, the president of Brazil's National Nuclear Energy Commission. "In the whole world, there's a big reinvestment in this area. Countries are turning back to nuclear energy." The Resende plant's inauguration had been set for Jan. 20, but was delayed because construction wasn't completed, Dias Goncalves said. The plant may begin uranium enrichment without the hoopla later this month, officials said. Unlike Iran, Brazil is considered a good global citizen that isn't seeking nuclear weapons, although its military ran a secret program to develop a nuclear weapon as recently as the early 1990s. Still, some U.S. observers fear Brazil's program will encourage more countries to make nuclear fuel, raising the danger of nuclear weapons proliferation. The United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, earlier this month reported Iran to the U.N. Security Council for failing for three years to disclose all aspects of its nuclear program to agency inspectors. Iran responded by restricting IAEA inspections, a move that stymies efforts to determine whether it's producing fuel for power plants or developing nuclear weapons. Brazil's nuclear fuel needs, more than 120 tons of enriched uranium a year, don't warrant the country launching an industrial facility like Resende, especially with global supplies of the material running high, said Lawrence Scheinman, a former U.S. arms control official. "There really isn't much justification for new enrichment facilities unless countries have a very substantial number of reactors to be serviced and don't want to depend on outside suppliers," he said. "Neither Brazil nor Iran are in those positions." Despite the criticisms, Brazil's program hasn't drawn the outcry that Iran's nuclear plans have. Disagreements between the IAEA and Brazilian officials in 2004 over access to the Resende facility were resolved within months. Like Iran, Brazil has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the global agreement to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. All of Brazil's 20 facilities using nuclear material are under IAEA safeguards. Brazilian officials have worked closely with the IAEA throughout Resende's planning and construction, Dias Goncalves said. IAEA inspectors have visited the facility 32 times. Iranian officials, on the other hand, hid their uranium enrichment work for 18 years and obtained much of their technology from a Pakistani-led smuggling ring. Iran's leaders also have called for the destruction of Israel and are known sponsors of terrorism. "There is no way to doubt the intent of our plans because they are completely open," Dias Goncalves said. "We have to take account of every gram of uranium used." The road to Resende did hit a few bumps in 2004 when Brazil refused to let inspectors view centrifuges used in the enrichment process, saying they had to protect Brazilian-designed innovations vulnerable to industrial espionage. After months of negotiations, the two sides agreed to a confidential inspection regime, which is still in place, an IAEA official said. That agreement allows IAEA inspectors to examine material coming in and out of the centrifuges but not the equipment itself, which is covered by opaque panels, said Edson Kuramoto, president of the non-governmental Brazilian Nuclear Energy Association. Brazilian energy adviser Rogerio Cezar Cerqueira Leite said the Resende plant will allow Brazil to sell to growing markets for enriched uranium and fuel a domestic nuclear program that's bound to expand. "Without enriched uranium, you don't have nuclear technology," Cerqueira Leite said. "It's not just national prestige. If you don't make it yourself, you will always be behind in the nuclear race." Many Brazilians see the eventual opening of Resende as the first step in the country becoming a world leader in nuclear research, said Cerqueira Leite. Brazil has the world's sixth largest deposit of uranium.
"All a country needs is a few nukes â like in North Korea (They are supposed to have from 6 to 10 nuclear warheads) â to neutralize the 10,000 plus American nuclear warheads." Technologies are on the way which will kill missiles and planes the moment they are launched. So soon the nuclear blackmail of rogue nations will be curtailed by large extent. SouthAmerica, your views are sad and unfortunate, you are passionate in your hate towards US, yet you do not have a viable peaceful solution. People like you take the world backward not forward into progress and peace.
S.A. your responses are so binary. Interanational law is not for binary thinkers. Oh and you are right the U.S. is weak. We can not enforce our will against anyone. (If we had the desire.) Nice analysis.
. February 12, 2006 SouthAmerica: Iran is going to follow the footsteps of North Korea and Iran will unsign their country's agreements regarding the NNPT (nuclear non-proliferation treaty.) It is just a matter of time. It is a done deal. International treaties are not set in stone â they have a certain useful life then they become obsolete â for example the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. ******** CNN â February 12, 2006 The president of Iran has said it is his country's right to develop nuclear energy, and threatened to "revise" its acceptance of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) if Western countries attempt to interfere with that right. ******* Mail and Guardian â February 12, 2006 âAhmadinejad threatens revision of nuclear policyâ Nasser Karimi - Tehran, Iran Iran's hard-line president threatened more changes to the country's nuclear policy on Saturday, as tens of thousands of people rallied across the nation to celebrate the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and, in many cases, to show support for Iran's nuclear rights. State-run television called the nationwide demonstrations "a nuclear referendum" and showed footage of rallies in Iran's major cities. In Tehran's Azadi Square, some young men wore white shrouds symbolising their readiness to die for the country's nuclear ambitions. A group of school students wore jackets emblazoned with the words: "Peaceful nuclear energy is our right." In a speech before tens of thousands massed in Azadi Square to mark the 27th anniversary of the revolution that brought a Muslim theocracy to power, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad focused on the building crisis surrounding Iran's disputed nuclear programme. "The nuclear policy of the Islamic Republic so far has been peaceful. Until now, we have worked inside the agency [International Atomic Energy Agency] and the NPT [Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty] regulations. "If we see you want to violate the right of the Iranian people by using those regulations [against us], you should know that the Iranian people will revise its policies. You should do nothing that will lead to such a revision in our policy," said Ahmadinejad. The crowd in the square chanted: "We would fight, we would die but we will not accept lowliness," referring to Iran's refusal to give in to outside pressure. Ahmadinejad did not specify what changes Tehran envisioned, but it was believed to be a threat to withdraw from the NPT and the IAEA. "The West is hiding its ugly face behind international bodies, but these bodies have no reputation among nations. You have destroyed the reputation of the NPT," the Iranian president said. Ahmadinejad appeared in part to be responding to a call on Thursday by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan for Iran to restore a freeze on its nuclear activities and pursue talks to shift its uranium enrichment programme to Russia. While Iran's nuclear programme has been formally reported to the UN Security Council, Annan said what's important is that the Iranians and the Europeans who have been trying to resolve the nuclear dispute have said "negotiations are not dead ... and they are prepared to talk". "And I hope Iran will continue to freeze its activities, the way they are now, to allow talks to go forward, to allow them to pursue the Russian offer, and to allow negotiations with the European three and the Russians to come back to the table," Annan said. Britain, Germany and France have led months of futile talks on behalf of the 25-nation European Union amid suspicions that Iran's civilian nuclear programme is aimed at producing nuclear weapons -- not electricity as Tehran insists. "When Western countries, such as France, threaten other countries by their nuclear weapons, it would be natural for Iran not to continue a soft nuclear policy. We basically oppose Iran's membership in the NPT unless it recognises Iran's full nuclear right," said Mojtaba Bigdeli, spokesperson of the pro-Islamic, hard-line Hezbollah political party. French President Jacques Chirac said last month that France could respond with nuclear weapons against any state-sponsored terrorist attack. His comments were perceived by some as directed against Iran. Ahmadinejad also said the true Holocaust was happening now in the Palestinian territories and Iraq. "If you want to find the real Holocaust, you will find it in Palestine where Zionists kill Palestinians every day. You will find it in Iraq," he said. He has declared the Nazi slaughter of six million Jews during World War II was a "myth" and that Israel should be "wiped off the map", prompting worldwide outrage. Ahmadinejad has not relented in attacking Israel and recently a Tehran newspaper announced it was holding a contest for caricatures of the Holocaust. He charged that what he termed "Zionists" were behind the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad which has prompted a series of global demonstrations by angry Muslims and attacks on Western embassies. Tensions between Iran and the international community started escalating last month after Iran removed UN seals and began nuclear research, including small-scale uranium enrichment. On February 11, the International Atomic Energy Agency's board voted to send Iran's nuclear file to the Security Council, saying it lacked confidence in Tehran's nuclear intentions and accused Iran of violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran responded by ending voluntary cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog agency and announcing it would start uranium enrichment and bar surprise inspections of its facilities. But the Islamic republic left the door open for further negotiations over its nuclear programme, saying it was willing to discuss Moscow's proposal to shift large-scale enrichment operations to Russian territory in an effort to allay suspicions. High-level talks on the proposal are scheduled to begin in Moscow on February 16, but Russia says it still awaits word from Tehran. The proposal is backed by the United States and the European Union as a way to provide additional oversight of Iran's use of atomic fuel. - Sapa-AP .
. Jem: Oh and you are right the U.S. is weak. We cannot enforce our will against anyone. (If we had the desire.) Nice analysis. ******* February 12, 2006 SouthAmerica: The last real war that the United States fought â was in Vietnam â and as far as I can remember the United States lost that war â even though the United States used more bombs in that war than it was used during the entire WW II â and the US manage to kill almost 3 million people in the Vietnam war. Then the US lost the war â all I can remember today â it is that last day when the US helicopter was leaving the roof top of the US Embassy and a bunch of people were trying to take that last opportunity to leave Vietnam before the victorious communists took over. North Vietnam managed to defeat the United States in that long war. It took time but in the end they were the winners. The same story is repeating all over again this time around in Iraq. Then there was the half-day war against Saddam Hussein in the early 1990âs. In a matter of days the US destroyed Saddamâs army almost completely. Saddam was left with only a small number of functioning thanks and so on⦠At that time Saddam had a state of the art army to fight a war in the 1950âs. The US once again attacked a very weak country - Iraq - in 2003. But this very weak country has been fighting a gorilla war against the US and they are killing Americans one at the time. Besides in the last year Iraq has been engulfed into a nasty civil war - and today the US soldiers in Iraq serve only as target practice for the insurgency. The US had some other minor victories in the last 25 years such as: Panama Grenada Kosovo / Serbia Haiti Somalia (The Somalis got rid off of the US army after the US got in trouble with the warlords) **** Yes, in my opinion the United States cannot enforce its will against anyone â for example North Korea and Iran. I will give you another example - which is really an irony: After 9/11 the US goes after Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Many of these Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters move on to Pakistan â and many of them still are hiding in Pakistan to this day - probably including Osama Bin Ladden. Under normal circumstances the United States would have attacked Pakistan after 9/11 in the same way that the US attacked the Afghanistan. Why instead of charging like a bunch of cowboys against Pakistan â the US did try to work out some kind of agreement with the Pakistani government? The answer is simple: Pakistan is armed with nuclear weapons and the US has no power to enforce anything against countries armed with nukes. Today, Al Qaeda and Osama bin Ladden are being protected by Pakistan - a nuclear state - and there is nothing the US can do about it. Israel has a nuclear arsenal and it would be suicide for any country to try to exterminate Israel with nukes because that would mean a mutual extinction. It does not matter that Iran develops its nuclear weapons â at the end of the day - the Israelis and the Iranians are very intelligent people and they understand what is at stake. In reality, the only country that I can see using a nuclear weapons today against another nation â would be Pakistan using a nuclear weapon against India. My bet is on Pakistan using it first. .
Iran has stated that it wants to pulverize Israel. Iran no longer wishes to pursue its nuclear goals through international diplomatic cooperation. They have a history of rogue anti- Western behavior (terrorism). Iran is known to deal arms with N. Korea. Would anybody go out on a limb and say Iran is, at the least, a threat to the security of the region? If some wacko said they wanted to off your mom, would you be disturbed if they quit their medication and vowed to buy automatic firearms after being released from serving a violent crime sentence?
. AudiQuattro: Iran has stated that it wants to pulverize Israel. Iran no longer wishes to pursue its nuclear goals through international diplomatic cooperation. They have a history of rogue anti- Western behavior (terrorism). Iran is known to deal arms with N. Korea. Would anybody go out on a limb and say Iran is, at the least, a threat to the security of the region? ********** February 12, 2006 SouthAmerica: The Iranians would not dare to use a nuclear weapon against Israel unless it is used to protect their country from a foreign attack â but it would be used only as a last resort and for defense purposes only. If they use a nuclear weapon against Israel just to follow up on these silly threats â then you can be sure that Tehran, in Iran would also be attacked and would look just like Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the US attacked Japan in 1945. â Tehran would be toast and they know that. If Iran uses its nuclear weapon against Israel â that would be a mutual suicide since Iran also would be annihilated by the Israelis nuclear weapons. Both countries know that and a nuclear exchange between them it will never happen. .