nuclear-news

A manufactured danger- the supposed nuclear weapons threat from Iran

Contrast, then, the Iranian nuclear posture with that of the U.S. and
Israel – the two supposedly threatened parties.

Israel has perhaps as many as 200 nuclear weapons.  It is unknown
precisely just how many bombs Israel possesses because it refuses to
sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (which Iran has done), or allow in
international inspectors (which Iran continues to do).

Meanwhile, the U.S. – the only nation to actually deploy nuclear
weapons in combat – is currently in the midst of upgrading its arsenal
of 5,113 nuclear warheads.  With conservative estimates approaching
$400 billion, the Washington Post reports, it will be the “costliest
overhaul in its history.”

And yet, it is Iran that poses the nuclear threat?

The Iran Nuclear Threat: Phantom Menace
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-iran-nuclear-threat-phantom-menace/5321242
By Ben Schreiner
Global Research, February 01, 2013 They say you can’t kill that which
has never lived.  It’s useful advice when analyzing the persistence of
the so-called “Iranian nuclear threat.”

According to a report in McClatchy, “Israeli intelligence officials
now estimate that Iran won’t be able to build a nuclear weapon before
2015 or 2016.”

Recall that just this past September Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu was theatrically warning that Iran would achieve nuclear
weapons capability by “next spring, at most by next summer.”

Of course, Netanyahu has made a career out of warning that Iran is
about to go nuclear – claiming as early as 1992 that Iran was 3 to 5
years away from being able to produce a bomb

As one Israeli official justifiably lamented to McClatchy, “Did we cry
wolf too early?”  Yes – early and often, to be precise.

“There has not been the run towards a nuclear bomb that some people
feared,” the Israeli official went on to note.  “There is a deliberate
slowing on their [Iran’s] end.”

The fact that Iran has made no run towards a bomb should come as no
surprise.  After all, both U.S.and Israeli intelligence estimates have
repeatedly found that Iran is not pursuing a bomb.

Moreover, it’s been nearly a year now since Iranian Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Khamenei first issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons. “The
Islamic Republic,” Khamenei declared back in early 2012, “logically,
religiously and theoretically, considers the possession of nuclear
weapons a grave sin and believes the proliferation of such weapons is
senseless, destructive and dangerous.”

Speaking earlier this month, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin
Mehmanparast reiterated that Khamenei’s fatwa is binding.

“There is nothing more important in defining the framework for our
nuclear activities than the Leader’s fatwa,” Mehmanparast stated.
“This fatwa is our operational instruction.”

Contrast, then, the Iranian nuclear posture with that of the U.S. and
Israel – the two supposedly threatened parties.

Israel has perhaps as many as 200 nuclear weapons.  It is unknown
precisely just how many bombs Israel possesses because it refuses to
sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (which Iran has done), or allow in
international inspectors (which Iran continues to do).

Meanwhile, the U.S. – the only nation to actually deploy nuclear
weapons in combat – is currently in the midst of upgrading its arsenal
of 5,113 nuclear warheads.  With conservative estimates approaching
$400 billion, the Washington Post reports, it will be the “costliest
overhaul in its history.”

And yet, it is Iran that poses the nuclear threat. In fact, Netanyahu,
in defiance of his country’s own intelligence, continues to this day
to warn of “Iran’s race to achieve nuclear capability.”

The Iranian nuclear threat simply cannot be killed.  And as it is
permitted to linger, the U.S. military planning against Iran continues
its acceleration.

As former Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barack revealed in a recent
interview with the Daily Beast, the Pentagon has drawn up detailed
plans for a “surgical operation” against Iran – what Barack deemed
“scalpels.”

It’s worth noting, however, that much of the speculation on a possible
U.S. strike against Iran has centered on the use of the Pentagon’s
Massive Ordnance Air Blast weapon.  At 30,000 pounds, the “mother of
all bombs,” as it is known, is the “largest non-nuclear weapon in the
U.S. military arsenal.”

Clearly, the definition of what constitutes a “surgical operation” is
becoming ever more flexed.

The Israeli daily Haaretz, meanwhile, reports that the Pentagon has
just deployed six F-22 Raptor fighters to the Al-Dhafra Airbase in the
United Arab Emirates.

The F-22, as Haaretz notes, is the “most advanced fighter currently in
operational use by the United States Air Force and the only
operational ‘stealth’ fighter in use around the world with the
capability to evade enemy radar systems.”

The Pentagon originally deployed the F-22s to its UAE airbase last
April, but claimed at the time that their deployment was to be
temporary.  But after nine months, and a reinforcement of the
warplanes, the deployment appears to be quite permanent.

It is again useful to compare Washington’s military posture in the
Gulf to that of Tehran.As an April Pentagon report found, Iran’s
defense doctrine remains one of self-defense.  Iran’s military
capacity, the report notes, is designed specifically to “slow an
invasion” and “force a diplomatic solution to hostilities.”

The stationing of the stealth fighters in the UAE, along with a naval
armada in the waters of the Persian Gulf, makes it abundantly clear
what the U.S. defense doctrine is designed for.

It’s clear, then, the Iranian nuclear threat is but a phantom menace.
And that, in part, explains its enduring presence.  You can’t kill
that which has never lived.

February 1, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, weapons and war