Mad Mullahs with nukes

From The Baltimore Sun

Read this article and ask yourself if this doesn't sound like Saddam, Iraq and the UN all over again. Except this time it is Iran and there is no doubt about the WMD because Iran has already said it rejects any new curbs on its nuclear programme and says the world must recognise the country as a nuclear-capable nation.

IT'S BEEN nearly two years since the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) initiated efforts to determine Iran's nuclear weapons status...

It is now evident that Iran, despite intense international pressure, will not fully divulge its nuclear enterprise. The scheduled IAEA Board of Governor's meeting tomorrow will have little impact in changing this. Rather, the time is approaching when we will have to acknowledge that international efforts to halt the mullahs' nuclear ambitions have failed.

Feigned interest in collaboration emerged when Iran announced its "full" commitment to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty (NPT). Subsequent events belied the representation. On June 6, 2003, drawing on international inspections and new documentation, the IAEA revealed its initial findings: Iran had "failed to meet its obligations under its Safeguards Agreement with respect to reporting of nuclear material, the subsequent processing and use of that material and the declaration of facilities where the material was stored."

And on and on, just as Iraq did for years. So, what to do about it. Not much it would seem.

Unfortunately, Iran has the Security Council over an oil barrel in the current tight energy market. Aside from rhetorical reprimands, material action from the squeamish council is unlikely. The United States normally would pick up the gauntlet. But wounded in Iraq, it will be unable to mobilize either international or domestic support for bold measures.

Britain, France and Germany could take the lead, as they tried in October. But the latter two would prefer to stay in the shadow of the American bogeyman taking the heat. Israel's response, however, is an unknown quantity.

More likely, the Iranian atomic weapons die is cast. Therefore, it's not too early to ponder strategies to prevent the nuclear Middle East from exploding.

Mad mullahs with nukes and Al Qaeda with nukes; not a pretty picture is it?
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