- 27 October 2008
- 2 Comments
- Diplomacy, Election 2008, Neo-Con Agenda, Nuclear file, Presidential 2008 Elections, US-Iran War
Something wicked this way comes…
27 October 2008 Posted By Joseph Ward
Last week the Washington Post ran an OpEd by two former Senators, Chuck Robb (D-VA) and Dan Coats (R-ID). In it, they endorsed sustained aggressive action in future U.S. dealings with Iran, saying that Iran must be prevented, using any means necessary, from not only obtaining nuclear weapons, but even “the ability to quickly assemble a nuclear weapon.”
They were part of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s national security task force on Iran which also includes current Obama advisor to Middle Eastern Affairs, Dennis Ross. It’s well known that Ross is positioning himself for a seat in an eventual Obama administration–possibly special envoy to Iran. So then why is he stating in an Israeli newspaper that “Today Iran is a nuclear power – it doesn’t have nuclear weapons yet, but in 2001 it was not yet able to convert uranium or uranium gas, it didn’t have a single centrifuge. Now it’s stockpiling highly enriched uranium.”?
Alleging that Iran is producing highly enriched uranium (HEU) is a pretty big deal. Mohammed Elbaradai, and the IAEA have both declared that no HEU exists in Iran or within it’s nuclear program. In the world of nuclear inspections, there are few greater certainties than this. For me, this raises some questions about Ross’ qualifications for a high-level position regarding Iran. Does he really believe he knows more about the existence of uranium in Iran than the IAEA inspectors? What is the drive behind making such a claim? One has to wonder what Senator Obama thinks of all this…
2 Responses to “Something wicked this way comes…”
Absolutely right, Joe. It’s also important to note that Dennis Ross is a founding member of United Against a Nuclear Iran, a “broad based” group “committed to preventing Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons”
What’s interesting about this group is, despite their pronouncements about the dangers of a nuclear Iran, they provide no solutions–not a single proposal–for how to deal with the challenge. All their work focuses on scaring Americans about a nuclear Iran.
If you ask me, now is not the time for fear-mongering. In fact, there’s never been a better time to pursue a diplomatic solution to the Iran challenge. In my opinion, Ross and his colleagues are riding against the currents that are pushing for a peaceful resolution between the US and Iran.
Thanks for the heads up about the HEU remark.
I’d like to point out if it’s not been discussed here before that not only did Ross sign on to the Bipartisan Policy Center’s task force on Iran, Ross co-convened one for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy which among other concerning things, called for the next president to make preventive military action (attack) a viable policy option.
He worked on this with none other than R. James Woolsey. And, three other Obama advisers signed on – Richard Clarke, Susan Rice, and Anthony Lake. The photograph on the cover of this Statement put out by WINEP is of U.S. and Israeli flags flying as a backdrop to uniformed and armed men and women .
That plus WINEPs overall push to make a preventive attack an accepted option can be found here:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/Washington-Think-Tank-Cult-by-Cheryl-Biren-Wrigh-081025-140.html