Right on cue, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked the new nuclear deal with Iran hardly before the ink was dry, calling it a “historic mistake,” stating he was not bound by it, claiming the world had become a “more dangerous place,” and reiterating his threat to use military action
Continue readingTag: Nuclear Weapons
The Cracked Crystal Ball II: If Harper Wants To Be Skeptical About Iran …
Baird’s comments about the deal reached with Iran yesterday which theoretically is intended to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons capability are somewhat laughable. “We’re deeply skeptical of Iran and its ability to honour its obligations,” he said. Baird added that Canada believes “every diplomatic measure” should be taken to ensure
Continue readingbastard.logic: The Atomic Road To Damascus (With a Detour Through Goldsboro)
Hey, remember when the US almost detonated an atomic bomb (260 times more powerful than either Fat Man or Little Boy) over North Carolina? Good times: The document, obtained by the investigative journalist Eric Schlosser under the Freedom of Information Act, gives the first conclusive evidence that the US was
Continue readingbastard.logic: The Atomic Road To Damascus (With a Detour Through Goldsboro)
Hey, remember when the US almost detonated an atomic bomb (260 times more powerful than either Fat Man or Little Boy) over North Carolina? Good times: The document, obtained by the investigative journalist Eric Schlosser under the Freedom of Information Act, gives the first conclusive evidence that the US was
Continue readingLeDaro: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani: Iran has no plans to build nuclear weapons
Ann Curry of NBC interviewed Hassan Rouhani. Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy “We have never pursued or sought a nuclear bomb, and we are not going to do so,” he said. “We solely are looking for peaceful nuclear technology.” Asked whether he thought
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The real reasons for threats of war against Syria
(that the mass media won’t tell you about) 1. The Middle East holds 60% of the world’s remaining energy reserves: therefore, the entire region is critical to control – for anyone with an empire fetish, that is. And if you’re serious about controlling the Middle Eastern oil reserves, then you
Continue readingLeDaro: Israel and Peace in the Middle East
What is the biggest threat to stability and peace in the Middle East? It is not Iran, Iraq, or Syria… it’s Israel. The government of Israel – especially prime ministers like Netanyahu – are a de-stabilizing force in the region. The hard line policies of those like Netanyahu drive open
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Americans Now Primed for WWIII
(Gallup: Staggering 99 Percent of Americans See Iran’s Nuclear Program as ‘Threat’ Americans See Civilian Program as a Bigger Threat Than North Korea’s Actual Nukes by Jason Ditz, February 20, 2013) ”A grim new poll from Gallup shows an overwhelming majority of Americans, indeed 99 percent of them, believe
Continue readingTrashy's World: Stay classy, my home and native land…
…stay classy. Canada was one of only 6 nations to vote yesterday against a UN resolution calling for Israel to open up its nuclear facilities for inspection. The others were the US, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau. What lo…
Continue readingWhy does Britain have nuclear weapons?
There’s a lot of talk these days about the possibility of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. Britain’s government is one of the voices adamant that it must not be allowed to do so. Oddly, no one has raised the obvious question, Why does the UK have nuclear weapons? Iran, although insisting
Continue readingIran and Israel negotiating nukes—will common sense break out?
Officials from both Iran and Israel attended a nuclear non-proliferation meeting in Brussels this week. The intent of the meeting was to set the stage for a full international conference on banning nuclear weapons from the Middle East. The Iranian and Israeli officials are ostensibly attending as private citizens, yet
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: China’s Nuclear Hair Trigger
China is just one of several countries with arsenals of nuclear weapons. Yet, unlike the others, the unusual structure of China’s military forces may leave the country much more prone to nuclear escalation from a conventional war. ” [A] new study, previously only available in Chinese, appears in the latest
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall…
It isn’t always pleasant to look into the mirror, but I’m glad we have people like Chris Hedges to force us to on a regular basis. Recommend this Post
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: A Formula for Nuclear Disarmament
Mushroom clouds over Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right) If you look at world history, ever since men began waging war, you will see that there’s a permanent race between sword and shield. The sword always wins. The more improvements that are made to the shield, the more improvements are made
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Lessons from Iran for North Korea
North Korea became the biggest international story of last week when it decided to launch a satellite into space (ostensibly a weather satellite) that ultimately broke down shortly after being launched. This episode puts into peril the nascent moves towards genuine talks regarding food aid in exchange for abandoning nuclear
Continue readingDrive-by Planet: Meir Dagan: Iran ‘a very rational regime’
The increasingly strident calls for military action against Iran evokes the hyped-up threat rhetoric prior to the invasion of Iraq. As we now know, despite all the “expert” opinion, the alleged threat posed by Iraqi WMD turned out to be a crock. A chimera. Fear mongering about Iranian nukes is
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Nuclear Weapons, Iran, and War
With an all-too-familiar rhythm, the drums of war are sounding. The target? An authoritarian Middle Eastern regime set on acquiring exceptionally destructive weapons. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. This time around the country is Iran, and the weapons allegedly being developed are nuclear. The Israeli government (although
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: The chances of an Israeli strike on Iran
As a large caveat, let me first say that I think it is very hard to come up with a reasonable estimate of the chances that Israel, or the US, decided to attack Iran within, say, a year. For the casual analyst like myself, we can read the statements from
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Iran and the CNN Arizona GOP Presidential Debate
CNN Arizona GOP Debate As it often has been in the past, Iran was the principle foreign policy topic discussed in what may well be the last GOP Presidential Debate that we have to suffer through. If it is possible, the hyperbolic, warmongering rhetoric reached a new low. Additional debate
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: The staggering ignorance of the public on Iran
A new CBS/Opinion Research poll indicates that 71% of Americans believe that Iran already has a nuclear weapon. Sigh. While it certainly should not be a surprise anymore given numerous past polling of a similar level of absurdity, it is still nonetheless disheartening. For the record, it is absolutely false
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