Two Years Ago Today on GINA COBB: Iran Has Enriched Uranium While the Civilized World Continues to Dither

Originally published on April 11, 2006:  Iran Has Enriched Uranium While the Civilized World Continues to Dither

Iran has succeeded in enriching uranium.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has successfully enriched uranium for the first time, a major development in its fuel cycle technology, news agencies quoted former President Hashemi Rafsanjani as saying Tuesday.

Current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad added that Iran "will soon join the club of countries with nuclear technology."

But not to worry.  Until Iran's nuclear weapons are actually used in a major city near you, it's not your concern.  If you were to get involved in the issue right now, you'd just be a jingoistic imperialist.

As the U.N., the European Union, and plenty of Americans on the the left have made abundantly clear, we have plenty of time before Iran's first nuclear strike.  Why, it could be anywhere from a few months to five years to as much as ten years.

It's all speculation anyway, since nobody has access to the inner workings of Iran's secret programs.  The thing to do for your own peace of mind, of course, is to hold onto that ten year outer limit figure for dear life.  Take it as a minimum amount of time we have left, rather than the exaggerated maximum that it is.  Ignore the fact that Iran secretly hid its nuclear program for 18 years.  Some think Iran may already have one or two nuclear weapons.  But ignore that too.

In fact, the head of the U.N.'s so-called "nuclear watchdog" the IAEA, chairman Muhammad ElBaradei, admitted in December that once Iran resumed nuclear enrichment, it would be only months away from producing a nuclear bomb.  Guess what?  Iran has resumed nuclear enrichment.

But forget about all that.  The thing to focus on is that 10-year figure.  The easier course -- for the  next few months, anyway -- is to ignore Iran's steps toward arming itself with nuclear weapons until you either hear that it's already too late or until after, say, the next American presidential election. 

Ignoring the Iranian threat allows you the luxury of continuing to rip into America's current commander-in-chief (you know, the one with the low approval ratings) and allows you to undermine and show contempt for any action involving Iran, firmly convinced in your own mind that you're not undermining your own nation's security by doing so.  And make no mistake -- Tehran is watching, while its nuclear centrifuges spin.

And it's really important that we use whatever time we have left -- be it months or years -- to engage in dialogue.  Lots of dialogue.  Dialogue, dialogue, and more dialogue.  Why dialogue?  Because it doesn't demand anything of us, other than the ability to shrug our shoulders each time it fails to work.  And it makes us sound nice, doesn't it?  That will be what the world remembers when Iran's nuclear bombs finally are put into use to kill innocent men, women and children -- that we had the courage to do nothing while the danger grew.

Let's dialogue about one of Iran's favorite topics -- whether Israel should be wiped off the map.  Let's dialogue some more about whether Iran really, really means it when it says it will not be deterred in enriching uranium.  Let's dialogue about Iran's favorite chant, "Death to America!"

It's very important that we not threaten Iran with any action of any kind, make plans to take out Iran's nuclear capability, or do anything but engage in dialogue.  Because that might provoke them, you know.  And then they might do something crazy.  Like shouting "Death to America!" while announcing plans to pursue uranium enrichment.

Oh yeah -- they already did that.  But you get the point.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has successfully enriched uranium for the first time, a major development in its fuel cycle technology, news agencies quoted former President Hashemi Rafsanjani as saying Tuesday.

Current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad added that Iran "will soon join the club of countries with nuclear technology."

But not to worry.  Until Iran's nuclear weapons are actually used in a major city near you, it's not your concern.  If you were to get involved in the issue right now, you'd just be a jingoistic imperialist.

As the U.N., the European Union, and plenty of Americans on the the left have made abundantly clear, we have plenty of time before Iran's first nuclear strike.  Why, it could be anywhere from a few months to five years to as much as ten years.

It's all speculation anyway, since nobody has access to the inner workings of Iran's secret programs.  The thing to do for your own peace of mind, of course, is to hold onto that ten year outer limit figure for dear life.  Take it as a minimum amount of time we have left, rather than the exaggerated maximum that it is.  Ignore the fact that Iran secretly hid its nuclear program for 18 years.  Some think Iran may already have one or two nuclear weapons.  But ignore that too.

In fact, the head of the U.N.'s so-called "nuclear watchdog" the IAEA, chairman Muhammad ElBaradei, admitted in December that once Iran resumed nuclear enrichment, it would be only months away from producing a nuclear bomb.  Guess what?  Iran has resumed nuclear enrichment.

But forget about all that.  The thing to focus on is that 10-year figure.  The easier course -- for the  next few months, anyway -- is to ignore Iran's steps toward arming itself with nuclear weapons until you either hear that it's already too late or until after, say, the next American presidential election. 

Ignoring the Iranian threat allows you the luxury of continuing to rip into America's current commander-in-chief (you know, the one with the low approval ratings) and allows you to undermine and show contempt for any action involving Iran, firmly convinced in your own mind that you're not undermining your own nation's security by doing so.  And make no mistake -- Tehran is watching, while its nuclear centrifuges spin.

And it's really important that we use whatever time we have left -- be it months or years -- to engage in dialogue.  Lots of dialogue.  Dialogue, dialogue, and more dialogue.  Why dialogue?  Because it doesn't demand anything of us, other than the ability to shrug our shoulders each time it fails to work.  And it makes us sound nice, doesn't it?  That will be what the world remembers when Iran's nuclear bombs finally are put into use to kill innocent men, women and children -- that we had the courage to do nothing while the danger grew.

Let's dialogue about one of Iran's favorite topics -- whether Israel should be wiped off the map.  Let's dialogue some more about whether Iran really, really means it when it says it will not be deterred in enriching uranium.  Let's dialogue about Iran's favorite chant, "Death to America!"

It's very important that we not threaten Iran with any action of any kind, make plans to take out Iran's nuclear capability, or do anything but engage in dialogue.  Because that might provoke them, you know.  And then they might do something crazy.  Like shouting "Death to America!" while announcing plans to pursue uranium enrichment.

Oh yeah -- they already did that.  But you get the point.

The important thing is that our time has not completely run out yet.  There has not been an Iranian nuclear strike in a city near you yet, has there?  Look out the window just to make sure.

Everyone still here?  OK then!  Meanwhile, there's nothing to worry about. 

Now go back to whatever more important thing you were doing.

__________________________________

If you insist on reading more about the threat posed by Iran's nuclear ambitions, though I have no idea why you'd want to waste your time on it, pay a visit to All Things Beautiful or read the latest from Mark Steyn.  (Update 4/11/06:  Captain's Quarters also has a fine, down-to-earth discussion of what's at stake.)  You can also click here for more background on Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Everyone still here?  OK then!  Meanwhile, there's nothing to worry about. 

Now go back to whatever more important thing you were doing.

__________________________________

If you insist on reading more about the threat posed by Iran's nuclear ambitions, though I have no idea why you'd want to waste your time on it, pay a visit to All Things Beautiful or read the latest from Mark Steyn.  (Update 4/11/06:  Captain's Quarters also has a fine, down-to-earth discussion of what's at stake.)  You can also click here for more background on Iran's nuclear ambitions.