Peaceful Purposes

Obfuscation. It keeps people off their toes. Iran keeps saying that their centrifuges are for peaceful purposes, for nuclear energy. Of course, let's not forget that "Islam" supposedly means "Peace" (actually "Submission") so "Peaceful Purposes" could mean "Islamic Purposes", or more accurately, to force the rest of us into "Submission".

Amir Taheri's column in today's post brings up the following, which I submit to those who buy the "peaceful purposes" arguement. ("Hey, why shouldn't we take what Ahmadinejad says at face value? After all, he says there are no gays in Iran!").

[UN Inspector Baradei's] report should debunk Ahmadinejad's claims by stating unequivocally that Iran has violated the terms of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty on 32 issues over more than 18 years.

He should also expose Ahmadinejad's bogus claim that Iran is enriching uranium as fuel for power stations. Iran has no nuclear power plants and thus has no need of enriched uranium. The only nuclear plant under construction is to be completed by Russians at an unspecified date. But the uranium enriched by Iran at Natanz isn't suitable for that plant, which needs a specific type of fuel - the specifications for which Moscow has refused to give to Tehran.

Because nuclear fuel has a lifespan of three to four years, the Natanz uranium can't be intended for any of the 22 nuclear power plants that Ahmadinejad says he wants to build in Iran over the next 25 years. If told that the centrifuges are working to train Iranian scientists, Baradei should know that, at the level of scientific research, Iran already could enrich uranium in 1978.

The centrifuges working at Natanz can only be producing ingredients for nuclear warheads. Baradei should tell that truth to the Iranian people and the world at large.