World May Be Headed for Nuclear Destruction, ElBaradei Says

Reuters ^ | Thu February 12, 2004 12:51 AM ET | n/a

[Flavius]

World May Be Headed for Nuclear Destruction, ElBaradei Says Thu February 12, 2004 12:51 AM ET

(Page 1 of 2)

VIENNA (Reuters) - The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Thursday the world could be headed for destruction if it does not stop the spread of atomic weapons technology, which has become widely accessible. In an opinion piece in the New York Times, Mohamed ElBaradei wrote that nuclear technology, once virtually unobtainable, is now obtainable through "a sophisticated worldwide network able to deliver systems for producing material usable in weapons."

Above all ElBaradei echoed President Bush's call in a speech on Wednesday for states to tighten up the control of their companies' nuclear exports to proliferators.

ElBaradei, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director-general, said the world must act quickly because inaction would a create a proliferation disaster.

"The supply network will grow, making it easier to acquire nuclear weapon expertise and materials. Eventually, inevitably, terrorists will gain access to such materials and technology, if not actual weapons," he wrote.

"If the world does not change course, we risk self-destruction," ElBaradei said.

The father of Pakistan's atom bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan, admitted last week that he and scientists from his Khan Research Laboratory in Pakistan leaked nuclear secrets.

They are believed to have been part of a global nuclear black market organized to help countries under embargo such as Iran, North Korea and Libya skirt international sanctions and obtain nuclear technology that could be used to make weapons.

The massive illicit network has touched on at least 15 countries around the world.

ElBaradei said the 1968 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the global pact aimed at stopping the spread of atomic weapons, needed to be revisited and toughened to bring it in line with the demands of the 21st century.

He said it should not be possible to withdraw from the NPT, as North Korea did last year, while the tougher inspections in the NPT Additional Protocol should be mandatory in all countries. Currently fewer than 40 of the more than 180 NPT signatories have approved the protocol.

NUCLEAR EXPORT CONTROLS Continued ...

[Flavius]

Other rejected titles.

If water gets heated generally it gets warm...

Sun generally rises the next day...

I before E...

So with this rate if we are still around in 2050, the first grade physics lab will include developing thermonuclear device... just for fun.. anywho

I'm just glad we have a pact with signatures and all that so cool...

[jimtorr]

Yes...what they left out of the NPT were any consequences. Punishment for breaking the treaty must be built in, and carried out.

I doubt it will happen. Perhaps France now likes the idea of every tin-horn dictator having nuclear weapons, as a counter to the USA.

[StatesEnemy]

I'm sure it's all the fault of the U.S of A.

If we weren't such Big Meanies, these dictators/terrorists/malcontents wouldn't be seeking nukes.

[tet68]

Elbaradi,

You are headed for destruction,
no chance survive make your time!

[Judith Anne]

But you know WHO is going to be expected to save the world, don't you? President Bush, that's who.

And he just may do that.

[Flavius]

well, i guess i should think happy thoughts

eat tofu

and march for peace... oh wait march sounds so militaristic

hmm oh i know

walk yoga like for peace ... there thats better

happy thoughts to all there that took care of it we are going to be fine

[ambrose]

Another reason to get the space program moving. We need offworld colonies to preserve the human race.

[palmer]

The pact has had some success even though it is just a piece of paper. It doesn't need to be perfect, because I'm sure we all realize that waving a big stick is not perfect either. I think a combination of this pact, a credible threat of force, and a missile and border defense together will let us muddle through until the robots take over.

[samtheman]

It won't be global nuclear destruction.

It will be one or more nukes going off in one or more cities causing horrific death tolls, horrific heat and radiation injury totals and horrific damage to global economics and democracy, peace and progress everywhere.

But it won't be global nuclear destruction.

[chilepepper]

What he should more correctly have said is...

the arab world is headed for nuclear destruction

[Flavius]

well hope your wrong but your probably right...

but dont worry someone said that the threat is overrated and we are just paranoid...


i suppose if it comes from UN its ok to be paranoid otherwise its not legit...

anywho i have to go to work and stuff
adios

[samtheman]

I'm not predicting that nuke strikes will happen, I'm just saying that if they do --- as bad as they will be --- they won't amount to global nuclear destruction. No matter what, we're not going to see a nuclear exchange of the kind described by the old Soviet vs. USA nuke-war-scenarios.

As for the possibility that a nuke device COULD eventually go off... well, that's why we need to re-elect Bush. Bush's re-election won't guarantee prevention of a nuke event, but it decreases the odds of one. In my opinion.

[Prodigal Son]

The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Thursday the world could be headed for destruction if it does not stop the spread of atomic weapons technology, which has become widely accessible.

This pretty much sums it up. People are worried about whether Bush served or whether Kerry tossed his medals.

Irrelevent. All of it. It's all BS.

This nuclear technology is relevent.

The side point: we cannot stop its spread. We have fashioned an information based society. To stop the spread of information would kill us as surely as the spread of nuclear weapons tech.

It is just like the petroleum based society. At one time, this is what defined us- our alliegances, our defense treaties. The oil. To stop the flow of oil meant death (it still does BTW). But the same can be said for info tech today.

Our commerce has now shifted to information as the commodity- thus, the black market is also information based.

If the black market is trafficking info for profit- which they surely are, we will never be successful in stopping the spread of the ideas that can kill us- I.e. nuclear weapons tech.

It is time to recognize that our future economy will be based upon a pure thing- ideology. Our ideology is what allows us to co-exist without killing each other. America is a nation where many people are armed but where instances that people kill each other are few- comparatively. It will have to become the same for the world at large.

As much as we try, we will never stop the spread of this tech. It is all ideas. Ideas reduced to bits. Bits transmitted on our cell phones and email. Ideas compressed to burst transmissions- entire weapons programs being transmitted in a second's time.

The best we could ever hope to do is stay one step ahead in this race. But that is impossible over a long period of time.

The test is spreading our ideology. Our information will kill us. But our ideology is our saving grace. I'm speaking out of our current context- obviously- but at some point we will have to become more absorbed with spreading the thing that ensures that our fellow man is not addicted to death. This will not be our ideas but instead our ideals.

[tkathy]

It's vital to reelect GWB. All the whiners who threaten to sit home in Nov are risking far more than a few irrelevant social issues.

[Flavius]

no i understand

we are saying the same thing different ways..

what scares me more is that the dancing lady and basketball players get more air time

and this nuclear stuff is not an issue and is called being paranoid by the left media...

just saying they are definitely not watching the same ball game...

my opinion

[verity]

World May Be Headed for Nuclear Destruction

Will this negate global warming as the major threat? ;~)

[Rebelbase]

"Another reason to get the space program moving. We need offworld colonies to preserve the human race."

Mars ain't the place to raise your kids, in fact its cold as hell. And there's no one there to raise them, if you did.

[ambrose]

Build underground and domed communities.

Mars is just a starting outpost on our way to other worlds.

[Monty22]

It's too late, the horse has left the barn.

[blanknoone]

El Baradei, as head of IAEA, wasn't it your job to make sure this didn't happen? Weren't you the one 'keeping on eye' on North Korea? You are, as we speak, 'keeping an eye' on Iran, while they continue to build a bomb. Your organization is supposed to monitor the Pakis non-proliferation...good job on that one. Your organization missed Hussein's nuke program up till 95, when a defector clued you in (although to be fair, an equally incompetent idiot was in charge then (Blix). You didn't even have a clue about Libya's program. Why are you still head? Why does your false-sense-of-security organization still exist at all given that you have totally failed?