Atomic Iran
One of the reasons to read foreign news sources like the BBC is that they include things like:
Also, diplomats say Egypt made a proposal to include a reference to making the Middle East a nuclear weapon free zone.
This was rejected by the US, which saw it as an attack on Israel’s nuclear arsenal.
But diplomats told AP news agency that Washington eventually agreed to the clause after it received overwhelming backing from European allies.
Which never seem to make it into the reports from CNN. But then CNN gets quotes from Americans like:
U.S. Sen John McCain, R-Arizona, said military action is the last option for resolving the crisis, but it can’t be ruled out if all diplomatic efforts fail.
McCain, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that if Iran gained nuclear weapons, it would destabilize the entire Middle East, especially since Ahmadinejad’s recent comments that Israel should be wiped off the map indicate that Iran is “dedicated to the extinction of their neighbor.”
“It’s a very bad option. It’s the worst of all options except for allowing Iran to have nuclear weapons,” McCain said. “We will exhaust all possible options before seriously considering the military option, but it cannot be taken off the table.”
First, John, look at a freaking map. Did Iraq and Jordan slip your mind? Do you really want to bring up the record of countries who have conducted preemptive attacks on other countries in the region?
The real problems in the area all go back to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Nothing anyone does means anything until that core problem is resolved. There is little point in trying to deal with symptoms while avoiding the cause.
