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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| ClueBat™ visits WaPo: Failed Preemption Editorial |
| 2004-06-18 |
| WaPo Editorial. Minimal weasling and slurs. Well above average. Friday, June 18, 2004 Nine months ago, as a confrontation loomed between Iran and the United Nations over Iran’s illicit nuclear programs, three European governments staged a preemptive operation. Flying to Tehran, the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany struck a deal with Iran’s Islamic regime: The Europeans would block a referral of Iran’s violations to the U.N. Security Council and provide technical cooperation, and in exchange Iran would stop its work on uranium enrichment, fully disclose its nuclear programs and accept a new U.N. protocol giving inspectors greater access. The Bush administration was upstaged; some in Paris and Berlin smugly suggested that it had been given an object lesson by the Europeans in how "soft power" could be used to manage the rogue states in President Bush’s "axis of evil." This week, with the world’s attention focused on the troubled situation in Iraq, the European version of preemption is yielding its own bitter -- if less bloody -- result. Inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency have reported that Iran never honored its agreement; it has stalled and stonewalled the inspectors while continuing to work on elements of a nuclear program that could soon allow it to produce weapons. The Europeans have responded by drafting for approval by the 35-member IAEA board a stern statement demanding Iranian cooperation; Tehran has replied with threats to restart uranium enrichment and suspend negotiations with the West. Probably there will be no such rupture, and IAEA inspectors and European officials will resume their efforts to obtain Iranian cooperation. But there can be no disguising the fact that the European strategy for handling one of the world’s most dangerous proliferation problems is proving feckless. It has not produced the daily casualties and chaos now seen in Iraq. But it could, within a year or two, lead to an outcome as bad as or worse than any now foreseen in Baghdad: possession of nuclear weapons or the means to quickly make them by a hard-line Islamic regime that sponsors several anti-Western terrorist organizations. Both the United States and Israel have said they will not tolerate such an outcome. For now, military action is not an option in Iran, at least for Western countries. But if a crisis is to be avoided, a better strategy is needed. The Bush administration, which once advocated referral of the Iranian matter to the Security Council for consideration of sanctions, now is merely pressing for a deadline for Iranian compliance. The Europeans reject even that as too aggressive. Yet it should now be clear that if Iranian nuclear ambitions are to be checked, Europe -- and Russia -- will have to forcefully employ the leverage of their diplomatic and economic relations with Tehran. So far, only carrots have been offered -- and they have produced no results. © 2004 The Washington Post Company If I didn’t know better, I might be tempted to think the WaPo Editorial Staff might actually agree that the Axis of Evil isn’t quite so rash a term, after all, and that Iran deserves such recognition. Must hurt. |
| Posted by:.com |
| #5 THE BUSINESS END OF GUN. Scuse me for being cynical, but I noticed the WaPo is advertising on FOX for subscriptions. Maybe the clue bat hit them from the accounting department. Keep writing garbage and you'll soon have ample time to blog your propaganda for free. |
| Posted by: B 2004-06-18 8:38:29 PM |
| #4 What the hell does an appeaser flight to Iran-land have to do with preemption. These WaPo folks are proven moonbats. Real story: Iran-land liberation maybe, Iraq liberation by warmongers. Anybody at WaPo know a good shrink? |
| Posted by: Capt America 2004-06-18 4:41:57 PM |
| #3 Isn't this sufficient message to Europe that Iran will continue to do what Iran does best, which is lie through their teeth as they pursue goals completely contrary to regional peace and global stability? Not if the article just before this one is to be believed. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-06-18 3:19:35 PM |
| #2 Inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency have reported that Iran never honored its agreement; it has stalled and stonewalled the inspectors while continuing to work on elements of a nuclear program that could soon allow it to produce weapons. Isn't this sufficient message to Europe that Iran will continue to do what Iran does best, which is lie through their teeth as they pursue goals completely contrary to regional peace and global stability? The problem in Iran cannot and will not be negotiated away. Whether they are willing to admit it openly or not, Europe and IAEA have already reveived convincing proof of that. Iran's mullahs will act only in accord with their own favorite form of motivation, THE BUSINESS END OF GUN. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-06-18 12:19:54 PM |
| #1 Must hurt. Not likely. Today's "journalists" don't know what shame is, let alone feel any. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-06-18 10:17:12 AM |