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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| IRAN: US Trained Physicists Make A-Bomb For Mullahs |
| 2006-03-16 |
| Iran can create nuclear bomb Novosti, Moscow 10/ 03/ 2006 Academician Viktor Mikhailov, director of the Strategic Stability Institute of Russia's Ministry of Atomic Energy, academic supervisor of Russia's Federal Nuclear Center (Research Institute of Experimental Physics), holder of the Lenin and State prizes, and minister of nuclear energy from 1992 to 1998, in an interview with RIA Novosti military commentator Viktor Litovkin. Question: Experts say you were one of the fathers of the Iranian nuclear industry. Can you describe its current situation? Answer: It is true that I was among the initiators and participated in drafting a contract for the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. The United States did not want to cooperate with us in the nuclear sphere and advanced unacceptable conditions. Therefore, we had to go east - to Iran, China and India. The Russian nuclear industry was dying; we had to save it and create jobs for unique specialists so as to prevent them from emigrating to countries that want to create their own nuclear bombs. I have not been to Iran since I had left the post of the nuclear minister. But during my visits there I saw that Iran had very high nuclear research standards, which is not surprising. Nearly all Iranian scientists, researchers and nuclear engineers graduated from U.S. and West European universities with high standards of education. Iran continues to train its specialists there. As far as I know, about 10,000 Iranians are studying in Europe and the U.S. Iranian laboratories had highly efficient computer equipment, which the U.S. prohibited to sell to Russia, as well as other equipment made by the leading Western companies, such as Siemens. I think that the nuclear sector of the Iranian economy is maintained at a very high research and technical level. Q: Can Iran create nuclear weapons soon? A: This is a frequently asked question. I am sometimes asked if Iran wants to create such weapons or is thinking about the possibility, and I always reply that it does and is. It is impossible to retain national independence and sovereignty now without nuclear weapons. The U.S. wants to use military methods to spread its form of democracy to countries that have their own rich history and have contributed much to humankind. But Washington disregards these nations, their customs and traditions, trying to change them to the American way of life, which is impossible. Q: And still, can Iran create its own nuclear weapons or not? A: Of course it can. Any developed country can do this now, even through the Internet, but this takes much time and money. How much? Iran will create - can create - its nuclear bomb in five to ten years. It will not be as sophisticated as the nuclear weapons of Russia or the U.S., but it will do. The Americans are afraid of this, whatever BMD systems they create, because nuclear death can come not from the air but in many other ways. They fear a single nuclear explosion in their territory... "Fear"? Good idea. (More) |
| Posted by:Listen To Dogs |
| #14 That's before my time, Captain A. But check the archives -- Fred's first post was on 9/11/01. Also, see here and here. I didn't find this place until just before PD morphed into .com, which thoroughly confused me. Sorry I can't be more helpful. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-03-16 22:30 |
| #13 Trailing Wife (dba RB historian) Could you like furnish a road map? You know, a diagram of the RB Genesis and evolution. Was there ever a Rantburg "big bang" or anything? |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-03-16 21:14 |
| #12 hey TW that clears it up! *clueless sign* »:-) |
| Posted by: RD 2006-03-16 20:30 |
| #11 Cuz then we'd have to kill you, of course. We don't want to be forced into such a lose-lose situation. :) *secret sign* |
| Posted by: Glert Thetch2165 2006-03-16 19:48 |
| #10 Well, he hasn't been around for so long, Glert, that I thought it safe to share the rest of the story. There's a Secret Rantburg Cabal? Why didn't anyone tell me? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-03-16 19:37 |
| #9 LOL. I though the Secret RB Cabal had decided that the Davis gender transformation was to remain secret! |
| Posted by: Glert Thetch2165 2006-03-16 19:05 |
| #8 As for darling Mrs. D.: once upon a time there was an equally darling Mr. Davis, who occasionally became impatient with me for arguing with trolls, trying to help them to understand the real world, although he was ever gentlemanly even in his impatience. Mr. D. was one of the originals here, back when they were still fancy Rantburgundians, not the simpler Rantburgers of today. In those halcyon days a young lady student from the UAE or environs used to come by, who called herself "Gentle", trying to pursuade us that Islam is a religion of peace and love and nurturing happiness, ignoring the existence of the too many fascist and jihad-bound Islamists that work so hard make themselves loathed around the world today. Young Miss Gentle was not very good about doing the readings we assigned to her (ok, I was the only one who provided reading lists, but still), or even in following the logic of those who countered her arguments. Anyway, and as it happens, a troll (as we then assumed) stole Mr. D's nym (or is it nic? The terminology here does confuse me), and spewed endless hateful nonsense over Fred's threads. And thus Mrs. D appeared, so that we should not think that Mr. D had a monumental mid-life crisis. The story later appeared that actually Mr. D and Gentle were having an affair and had run off together, and Mrs. D ever charged me that should Mr. Wife come across him in his travels, to either send him home to his loving and anxious wife or shoot the sonufabitch -- depending on her mood. But it has been a very long time since Mrs. D appeared, quietly amused by those who, not knowing the back story, treated her as an elderly version of someone like me. Submitted this day by Rantburg's amateur historianess |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-03-16 19:01 |
| #7 Having scientists is all very well, but most of their work will of necessity remain theoretical so long as the technological infrastructure to produce the necessary tools is lacking. Leonardo DaVinci invented a great many fascinating things, which his world lacked the tools to construct, and the materials out of which to construct them. It must be horribly frustrating for Iran's Western-trained nuclear physicists and nuclear engineers to know that if only they had a solid machine-tool industry and a large number of Western-trained technicians and US-trained mechanical engineers, that whole pesky nuclear weapon thingy would have been solved (and missile-mounted) years ago. As it is, they are severely limited (not limited enough, unfortunately) by having to sneak in equipment purchases from Germany, Russia, etc. One almost feels for the poor darlings... |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-03-16 18:41 |
| #6 Once again America bites itself in the ass. We tried to force "democracy", er well, not really democracy, but the free market system per globalization on the Russkies. They were bankrupt. But they did respond in the capitalistic fashion. They tried to sell their technology. America blocked their nuclear sales to the "West", because we didn't want or need the competition. So they sold to whomever was buying. Ah hah ! The oil enriched Arabs. They bought all they could get. And, #2, as he so rightly points out, their scientists and technologists were all trained either in Europe or the US. Couldn't wait to get those rich Iranian grad students in to pay the freight. They had the cash and they paid. They learned what they wanted and needed. Now they are back there applying it. Certainly, they will produce a bomb. The yield may not be high, but the destruction will still be enormous. Even today, look at the grad student population in American universities. Is this some of our critical infrastructure ? And, finally, the most troubling aspect is that the former logic of assured destruction holds no meaning for Muslims. They look forward to death in the death culture. They don't mind a few million lost as long as they can create something horrific that will not ever be forgotten. |
| Posted by: SOP35/Rat 2006-03-16 16:50 |
| #5 Her stiletto is sorley missed! whatsup with Mrs. D? classified? I hope she's doing well. |
| Posted by: RD 2006-03-16 15:47 |
| #4 Yes, Mrs. Davis, a long time participant here at Rantburg. I firmly believe in credit where credit is due, and she was the very first to suggest that every rogue nation or Islamic nuclear power be put on notice that all of them get glassed and Windexed if so much as a single terrorist nuclear attack goes down on American soil. Personally, I cannot think of a better way of ensuring that all our enemies suddenly are confronted with a unanimous fate. It is a perfect reward for all their troubles and brings into stark relief the perils of proliferation for all of them to consider. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-03-16 14:28 |
| #3 Mrs. Davis? |
| Posted by: 6 2006-03-16 14:18 |
| #2 Hat tip to Mrs. Davis re: list. They fear a single nuclear explosion in their territory... Iran, North Korea, Pakistan and all other rogue or Islamic nations with atomic weapon ambitions need to be put on notice that a single terrorist nuclear attack on American soil will result in the end of all life as they know it in the aforementioned countries. The list needs to be concise and made public immediately. It is they who should fear a single nuclear explosion in our territory... |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-03-16 12:47 |
| #1 We do indeed have the fear of a nuclear detonation here in the US. However, we do not have any concern whatsoever that the strategic nuclear triad, which we built to prevail in an exchange with Mr. Mikhailov's former nation, is capable of erasing forever all evidence of Iran's "rich history" and "contributions to mankind." That we have not already employed this capability and are taking great pains to avoid having to do so is evidence of moral values totally foreign to to Mr. Mikhailov. |
| Posted by: JAB 2006-03-16 09:29 |