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President Obama has
stepped up the rhetoric against Iran with an offer to "negotiate".
His offer is no offer at all, it is a demand to
surrender. There will be nothing left to "negotiate" if Iran
accepts the offer. This
is what Obama demands before "negotiation" begins.
·
Immediately close and dismantle a recently completed
nuclear facility deep under a mountain
·
Give up and ship out of the country its stockpile of
uranium enriched to 20 percent purity
·
Halt all enrichment even though enrichment to 5
percent does not pose a risk
·
Allow inspectors full access to all Iranian sites
·
Allow inspectors access to key nuclear scientists
even though many Iranian scientists have been killed
The New York Times reports U.S. Defines Its Demands for New Round of Talks With
Iran
The Obama
administration and its European allies plan to open new negotiations
with Iran by demanding the immediate closing and ultimate dismantling of a
recently completed nuclear facility deep under a mountain, according to
American and European diplomats.
They are also calling for a halt in the production of uranium fuel that is
considered just a few steps from bomb grade, and the shipment of existing
stockpiles of that fuel out of the country, the diplomats said.
That negotiating position will be the opening move in what President Obama
has called Iran’s “last chance” to resolve its nuclear
confrontation with the United Nations and the West diplomatically. The hard-line approach would require the country’s
military leadership to give up the Fordo enrichment plant outside the holy
city of Qum, and with it a huge investment in the one facility that is most
hardened against airstrikes.
There is disagreement among the Western allies about whether Iran’s
leaders have made a political decision to pursue a nuclear weapon. American
intelligence agencies have stuck to a 2007 intelligence assessment, which
found that Iran suspended research on nuclear weapons technology in 2003 and
has not decided to take the final steps needed to build a bomb. But Britain
and Israel in particular, looking at essentially the same evidence, say that
they believe a decision has been made to move to a nuclear-weapons
capability, if not to a weapon itself.
Some American officials say they have considerable confidence that if Iran
moves to build a weapon, they will detect the signs in time to take military
action, though others — notably former Defense Secretary Robert M.
Gates — have been more skeptical. American and Israeli officials say
they have been more successful in the past few years in intelligence
gathering in Iran, both from human sources and drone aircraft, like the
stealth RQ-170 Sentinel that was lost over Iran late last year.
Iran's Right to Produce Non-Weapons Grade Nuclear
Fuel
Iran has as much right as anyone else to produce non-weapons grade nuclear
fuel.
Moreover, having watched the US destroy Iraq for absolutely no reason, one
should put itself in Iranian shoes and understand the need for Iran to want
to defend itself.
Thoughts on "Negotiation" Tactics
It is common practice in negotiation proceedings to reach for the sky with extreme
positions on both sides. It is not common practice to tell the other side we
will not even sit down to negotiate if you do not surrender in advance.
Cooler heads might prevail if there was actually something to
"negotiate" over.
Obama Threatens War
President Obama made no offer to "negotiate" anything. Rather Obama
“Last Chance” message can only be construed as a thinly veiled
threat to wage war.
No doubt, the warmongers in Congress and the defense department are angling
for just that. However, the US cannot afford and the world does not need
another nonsensical war, one that could easily cause the price of gasoline to
double or more.
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