Helen Caldicott, Sydney Morning Herald, 25 February 2012
The devastating spectre of war looms again. Just as the US manufactured “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq, so certain political factions in the US and Israel are intent on creating international panic by claiming Iran is on the verge of becoming a nuclear power.
This is despite the fact that the two most recent US National Intelligence Estimates – representing the judgment of the best senior officers from the main intelligence agencies – state there is no conclusive evidence that Iran has made any effort to build the bomb since 2003.
Mohamed ElBaradei the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said: “During my time at the agency we haven’t seen a shred of evidence that Iran has been weaponising, in terms of building nuclear-weapons facilities and using enriched materials. I am not God … and I don’t know the future intentions of Iran, but I don’t believe Iran is a clear and present danger.
”All I see is the hype about the threat posed by Iran. The core issue is mutual lack of trust …” What is clear is that the non-proliferation treaty is seriously flawed.
Under article IV, Iran is legally entitled to enrich uranium and to reprocess nuclear waste to obtain plutonium – both materials that can be utilised as fuel for nuclear weapons.
What scenarios have been contemplated by the US and/or Israel?
The US says it will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons states that are party to the treaty and in compliance with their nuclear non-proliferation obligations, but recent nefarious interpretations of Iran’s activities leaves open the possibility of a US attack, while nuclear-armed Israel has fostered plans to attack Iranian nuclear facilities for years.
Conventional ”bunker busters” are not powerful enough to penetrate deeply and with enough power to effectively incapacitate Iran’s underground nuclear facilities but nuclear bunker busters would be, and the US Nuclear Posture Review legitimises such use of tactical nuclear weapons.
A study by Physicians for Social Responsibility estimated that the use of three B61-11 nuclear weapons on uranium enrichment facilities in Natanz and Isfahan would release so much radiation that 2.6 million people would die in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India in 48 hours from radiation sickness while 10.5 million would later perish from cancer and radiation-induced disease.
Any military attacks on uranium enrichment facilities would induce catastrophic medical peril to millions of innocent people.
The author is absolutely correct about Iran’s rights under the NPT which the West has been trying to subvert. On the other hand the U.S., Britain and France have contravened the treaty by supplying nuclear weapons technology to Israel while the U.S. is now providing India, another NPT non-signatory, additional nuclear technology. One article of the NPT we never hear about is the requirement by all signatories to begin reducing and eliminating their nuclear weapons at an “early date”, something all nuclear powers have ignored. The hypocrisy is staggering.
Iran says: “peaceful nuclear technology for all; nuclear weapons for none”. Who can argue with that?
Mao-tse-tung the original chairman of the Communist Party of China says that what is needed to dismantle the nuclear weapons of the world, is for all the countries that posess such weapons should hold a political meeting in the UN or the peoples Republic of China, one item on the agenda, the complete and thorough dismantling of all nuclear weapons globally. He further says on a plaque where China first exploded a nuclear bomb in summer 1964, that China only aquires the knowledge of nuclear technology to dismantle all nuclear weapons in the world. The update from that time is to dismantle all nukes which means since three mile island, Chernoblyl, and Fukishima and our on-going stuggle to end all nukes on the planet earth.
This means that we must RE-TOOL THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION , to the renewables such as wind, tidal, and solar power which transforms to electricity, and is more power than can be used by society. No more blackouts. This non-pollution solution is given freely in natures kinder laws and provides work for all and forever more. Viva socialist liberation. End pollution wars, not endless wars for more and more pollution. Restore the matriarchy by doubling the democracy, one man and one woman per constituency, using natures 50-50 electing at all levels. Workers of the world, unite!! You yet have a world to win!!
Iran should dismantle their nuclear industry ask for inspectors from non alined countries.They should sell their oil to non nato countries using any thing but the dollar or euro .The us financial sytem is creating a worldwide depters prison.Help destory thedollar
Thank you for your great work,After the us is finished with iran it will be a poisoned well.The country will balkanized to better rule,and the people will become depter slaves.The us finacial system is built on the petro dollar ,thus iran is agreat threat because they will deal in silver and gold
@Michael Pelletier …. Every country or state should dismantle its nuclear industries, not just Iran. There was and is strong suspicion that Gadaffi was also seen as a threat to the U.S. for suggesting that the currency exchanged for oil should not be dollars.
Israel claims (falsely) that Iran is an existential threat … but, in truth, Israel … with its huge nuclear arsenal … is an existential threat to the entire Middle East and beyond.