God Wears Boots!
Brian Ross at ABC News reports that “Iran has more than tripled its ability to produce enriched uranium in the last three months, adding some 1,000 centrifuges …” and adds that “Iran could have enough material for a nuclear bomb by 2009.”
The US intelligence community, on the other hand, disagrees. CBS News reports that “neither the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, nor the Director of National Intelligence have changed their estimates of when Iran could have a nuclear weapon. The time frame most often mentioned is 2012-2015.”
Who's right?
The US intelligence community, on the other hand, disagrees. CBS News reports that “neither the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, nor the Director of National Intelligence have changed their estimates of when Iran could have a nuclear weapon. The time frame most often mentioned is 2012-2015.”
Who's right?
Is it a forgone conclusion that the power that be have decided that we have to learn to live with a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic while Tehran warns of further kidnappings and the power structure of the Islamic Republic is shifting toward military fascism?
All signs indicate that the IRGC , reminiscent of the early 1930's slow accumulation of the reigns of power in Italy and Germany has set undeniable strategic, organizational, and tactical policies and proecedures into motion for an ultimate showdown and total power grab from the hands of mullahcracy.
The vista of Iranian-Jihadist nuclear-armed military Junta, which is duty-bound by its Constitution to "bestow Islam upon all the world's oppressed", ordained by Allah himself should send chills down all of the delusional so-called realists' spines.
Do We still have time to avert this disatrous outcome? For a technical discussion of this issue click here.
9 comments:
There is one thing being left out of *all* the reports on uranium enrichment... they are all estimating Iran on its *own*.
Iran plus Syria will yield you a different kettle of fish. Basics on the Syrian WMD infrastructure here. Their mining and enrichment here. And where to find some of their less than pointed out things, here.
Still no good imagery on the al-Baida site last I checked, so no idea what that looks like.
And Ray Robison pointing to a report that many nuclear scientists are in Syria from Iran, the ex-Saddam nuclear program and ex-Russian Republics.
One does not need a nuclear finishing group all in one place... and if you hide it in Syria, then no amount of bombing in Iran will get rid of it.
Whenever A Jacksonian pops up in a comment before mine, he leaves very little for me to say. He's great!
The linked page, however; is a lot of gobbeldygook to me, Serendip. I'm mathematically challenged! LOL! It doesn't matter to me whether it's 2009 or 2012, the bottom line is we must not let Iran get a nuclear bomb, period!
Agreed, Gayle. A Jacksonian is the best.
Exactly right, why should it matter whether it's 2 years or 10 years. We have waited more than 24 years and haven't done anything about it. If we had done something sooner maybe, we wouldn't be here today. But the problem is that they kept their nuclear program a secret for 18 years. How could we have not know about it for so long? That's what I want to Know...
typo:
know should read known
These are the fruits of Britain's back-down. It'll be a hard harvest.
And here I thought there Mahdi was at the bottom of the well!
Iran MUST NOT get their hands on that nuke. We need to do something and do something fast.
Michael and Sherry: This has echos of creeping fascism that overtook Argentina, Germany and Italy in the early 1930's which culminated in 1938. Welcome to 1938!!!
Gayle - The long and short of it is that the phosphate industry of Syria processes enough material to recover 5-6 nuclear devices worth of uranium using the AQ Khan plan outlines. They do not necessarily recover that, but they do have their Swedish plant to refine the ore down to yellowcake so as to sequester the uranium and purify the phosphate. They have had that plant for a few years, now, so the rough estimate of refined yellowcake would be on the order of 15 devices worth. The question of who has the separators is a prime one, as Mitutoyo sold a large quantity of them *into* the AQ Khan network and Iran acted as a third party distributor for them as far out as Libya.
Also if the reports of nuclear scientists in Syria is correct, then the final bomb design and finishing group may not be in Iran at all. The main question is that of logistics and how much material could be effectively moved into Syria or the amount of yellowcake shipped to Iran for purification. As their air transport remains unchecked, that is an open question.
Also Syria has not signed on to the Chemical Weapons Convention and is known to produce quantities of VX and other weapons annually. Fully weaponized as they bought the warhead technology from Egypt in the 1970's, who had gotten it from the USSR. They have also, apparently, skirted around the BioWeapons Treaties and have appearances to be working on those, also. Their nuclear ambitions have been long lasting and it is only after a refining plant was put into the Homs area that Syria started to mine its more concentrated phosphate deposits for the uranium in the ore. Around that time they also built the Tal Snan underground complex, expanded the al Safira chemical complex and may have expanded the Khan Abu Shamat underground storage facilities.
Finally there is the work and cooperation with North Korea as witness the supernote trade and the NoDong missiles purchased in the 1990's. Syria has reproduced and improved that technology and is now fielding SCUD-D's with quite some long range to them, with the minimum estimate at 1,500 miles. While not accurate, with nuclear devices 'close is good enough'. Draw a 1,500 mile line around Syria and look at all that fits in that.
The collaboration with Iran has helped Syria immensely and it continues to play the 'weak sister' card of the Middle East to show that they are 'necessary'. Each of them, separately, are dangerous. Together I don't care to think about the capabilities.
That is why we dare not consider Iran *alone*. It isn't. And for WMDs it is Syria that has the technical competence having swindled every ally and friend over the years... because they are 'necessary'.
Serendip - The CIA got its first operative into Iraq three weeks before the invasion. That tells you where the priorities have been.
And now we pay for that.
A Jacksonian: Unbelievable! Iran got their operatives there more than 15 years ago. Now, the place is infested with Iranian agents. I read in an Iraqi blog that only 2 or 3 days after the shock and awe operation, the Iranian TV, Als Alam started broadcating in Arabic before any Iraqi TV was able to operate...
Thanks for stopping. You're the best.
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