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H. Thomas Hayden
recently concluded over 35 years of service,
which included the Agency for International
Development, the Marine Corps, defense industry
and the Pentagon. His specialties are Intelligence,
Counterinsurgency Operations, Counter-terrorism,
and Joint Concepts Development and Experimentation.
His Marine Corps assignments have included
command of two separate battalions; AC/S G-2,
4th MARDIV & AC/S G-2 FMFEurope; Branch Head,
HQMC, Special Operations and Low Intensity
Conflict (SO/LIC); Special Assistant to the
Assistant Secretary of Defense for SO/LIC;
and, Senior Program Analysts at HQMC with
the Joint Staff and DoD at the Pentagon. Overseas
assignments included Vietnam, Japan & Okinawa,
Europe, Central America, Saudi Arabia and
Kuwait, Somalia, Singapore, Philippines, and
Colombia. He has an MBA (Pepperdine) and an
MA in International Relations (University
of Southern California). He has written two
books and is working on a third.
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December 2, 2004
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Iran has claimed victory in its nuclear dispute, saying it has isolated the United States while preserving its right to enrich uranium, but said it has not abandoned its right to purify uranium. If Iran thinks it won something, then the U.S. must have lost something.
According to the Washington Times on December 1st, Iran's top nuclear official, Hasan Rowhani, hailed the resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Monday that authorizes the watchdog agency's chief, Mohamed El Baradei, to monitor Iran's commitment to "freeze" uranium-enrichment activities. The agreement that was struck with the IAEA will only halt processing for several months.
Uranium enrichment can produce either low-grade fuel for nuclear reactors or the raw material for atomic weapons.
The resolution followed a November 7th agreement on "suspending" enrichment
activities that France, Germany and Britain negotiated with Iran to forestall any action by the IAEA, which could have referred Iran to the U.N. Security Council for sanctions.
How can this be a victory for anyone? It required Tehran to halt uranium enrichment only temporarily, as if they have not completed all the enrichment that Iran needs for its current programs already.
It should be clear even to the casual observer that Iran has a secret program to
produce nuclear weapons even though Iran insists its program is strictly for
generating electricity. The IAEA cannot provide the necessary assurances that Iran is not attempting to produce material for nuclear weapons or has already produced material for nuclear weapons.
Again, according to the Washington Times, Mr. Rowhani was dismissive of U.S. arguments: "We have proved that our enemies are liars, and the path of the
Islamic Republic of Iran has been legal and peaceful," he said. "Despite American propaganda, Iran has not abandoned fuel cycle, and it will not do that. The suspension [of enrichment activities] will be limited to the negotiation period with Europe and not beyond. In case negotiations cease or are unsuccessful, there will not be any sort of suspension."
All this means is that we have another Neville Chamberlain and European-style appeasement while Iran is negotiating with Europe to acquire advanced nuclear
technology.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, which can be compared to a communist dictatorship of the proletariat, has taken a leaf from the dictums of Mao Tse-tung in talking peace when the enemy is strong, and when they are weak, resume the struggle at the earliest opportunity.
It is no longer a secret that Iran is developing a longer-range ballistic
missile than it has previously publicly acknowledged, with the capacity to strike
targets as far away as Berlin. This missile is also being developed with help from North Korean scientists. The warhead for the missile is reportedly based on an in Iranian design and is not being built from the design information supplied by the nuclear weapons network headed by Pakistani technician Abdul Qadeer Khan, who has admitted supplying nuclear plans to Libya, Iran and North Korea.
An Iranian opposition group has reported secret nuclear weapons sites and named the leading scientists involved with the program. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said that the Teheran regime has sought to conceal its secret nuclear weapons program, maintained at Defense Ministry facilities around Isfahan, Teheran and other facilities.
According to the web site for Geostrategy Direct, December 7th, the NCRI spokesman Farid Suleimani said Iran has tried to sanitize the Center for Development of Advance Defense Technology following the council's briefing on November 15th that reported uranium enrichment activities in the northeastern Teheran facility. "According to our sources, the Iranian authorities moved almost immediately to sanitize the site," Suleimani said.
Geostrategy reported that Suleimani said Iranian authorities have blocked the three entrances in the Lavizan district of Teheran where the nuclear site is located. He said that trucks have been seen shuttling from the Center for Development of Advance Defense Technology to other parts of Teheran in an apparent effort to remove equipment and documents ahead of any IAEA inspection. "Interrogators and officers of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security were among the first to come to the site," Suleimani said. "They have barred all from leaving the site, pending an investigation into the source of the leak of sensitive information. Truck movements in and out of the site have been reported."
We might as well get used to it. Teheran has, or soon will have, nuclear weapons and a regional delivery system that can strike targets in Europe. North Korea probably has nuclear weapons and a delivery system that can reach all of the Korean peninsula and Japan.
Paranoia and U.S. posturing in the Middle East, not to mention threats from Israel, has made it a foregone conclusion that Iran would develop nuclear weapons. Why does the U.S. government give this more publicity than it deserves? Get used to it.
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© 2004 H. Thomas Hayden. All opinions
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