Another Must Read Article, by Michael Ledeen. -- DoctorZin
Iran-Contra Revisited? Our dangerous Iran policy continues.
National Review Online ^ | 8.14.2003 | Michael Ledeen
Posted on 08/14/2003 8:12 AM PDT by DoctorZIn
Our dangerous Iran policy continues.
Even for August, the media's handling of the latest round of leaks from the usual unnamed sources in State and CIA on the subject of Iran is unusually feckless. The gist of the "story" fed to the press is that some Pentagon officials (and maybe I, as well) met and actually spoke with some Iranians a year or more ago, and then again a month or two ago. These talks were "unauthorized," which apparently means that Colin Powell and George Tenet weren't asked for permission beforehand, and, according to Newsday and the Washington Post, they got in the way of the State Department's own secret talks with members of the Iranian regime. One unnamed deep thinker went so far as to see the dark hand of a neoconservative plot, designed to prod the Iranians into a rigid and uncooperative posture that would defeat State's efforts to arrive at a deal with Tehran.
To find the entire post, go to:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/964033/posts "If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail me”
Bump for another great Ledeen piece.
Iran Develops Nuclear Plant
August 14, 2003
BBC News
BBCi
The Iranian Government says it is going ahead with the second phase of its controversial nuclear power plant in Bushehr.
Iran's state news agency Irna said the decision was taken by the country's High Council of Atomic Energy, which did not give a start date for the second phase, but did mention for the first time construction of a particle accelerator.
The United States and Israel accuse Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian programme, but Tehran insists its programme is to generate electricity and is for peaceful purposes only.
The decision to proceed with the Bushehr project came shortly after experts from the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), had held talks in Iran to demand snap inspections of its nuclear sites.
The European Union, Russia and Japan are pressing Tehran to sign up the so-called additional protocol of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), allowing such inspections.
But Iran - which presently is only obliged to accept pre-arranged visits to sites it chooses to declare - has previously said it would only agree to such a measure if it was granted more access to nuclear technology.
Bushehr - Iran's first nuclear power plant being built with the help of Russian specialists - is due to go online in 2005.
The second phase is expected to have a production capacity of 1,000 megawatts, allowing Iran to reach its nuclear power production target of 7,000 megawatts by 2020, IRNA said.
Nuclear experts have questioned the declared need of Iran - a country with vast oil and natural gas reserves - to produce nuclear energy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3150291.stm