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Collision Course

by | 13th, April 2006

‘WHAT a relief. Scientists have proved that the bird found dead on the coast of Scotland is a swan and that it did not die over here.

Worst case of short man syndrome since Napoloen

It seems that we are not yet in the thrall of bird flu. The carpenters knocking up morgues on every street corner can stand down. Our birds have not yet embarked on a mission to kill us all.

Panic over. And time for a new panic. Until our Government tells us that Iran is more than 45-miunutes away as the weapon of mass destruction flies we must worry about that country’s nuclear ambitions.

As the Times’s cartoonist shows by way of a picture of Iran’s scrawny President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cradling his bellyful of nuclear missile in the manner of an expectant mother (“NOT LONG TO GO BEFORE I DROP ONE”), trouble is in store.

The Telegraph has already reported on how the Iranians have mastered the technology to enrich uranium to make nuclear fuel. Now we hear an Iranian diplomat saying: “Iran’s nuclear activities are like a waterfall which has begun to flow. It cannot be stopped.”

But can the torrent be diverted? The Telegraph hears Russia say Iran is taking “a step in the wrong direction”. China says the move “is not in line with what is required of them by the international community”. Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, says he is “deeply concerned”. Straw’s partner Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, says: “The Security Council will need to take into consideration this move by Iran.”

It is unclear how this situation will play out. But what can the United Nation’s Security Council do? Hope that Iran is not paving the way to produce nuclear weapons? Tehran says it isn’t. Or attack?

The Times hears Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov say military action “could create a dangerous explosive blaze in the Middle East, where there are already enough blazes”. And China’s UN Ambassador, Wang Guangya, says to discuss military action “will not be helpful”.

Perhaps we should just panic? Although, in the Times, readers learn that it’s not easy to move from where Iran is now – running 164 centrifuges – to a plant running 50,000 centrifuges.

This plant will, as the paper says, take years to build. Even longer than it takes us to recognise a dead swan when we see one…’



Posted: 13th, April 2006 | In: Uncategorized Comment | TrackBack | Permalink