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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sam Citron who wrote (158213)	2/18/2005 11:04:16 PM
From: PartyTime	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

How many Muslim nations have nuclear power? Pakistan springs to mind. Indonesia perhaps? Nuclear power, it seems, is much about status as a nation--something Iran desires. I think the more pressing problem is that Bush's GOPwinger administration is bringing us back into a kind of 'cold war' status, with a loss of key allies along the way. It was one thing to stand off against the old Soviet Union, with strong allies in tow; it's quite another to stand against a union of powers with most of the world hating America.

To: Sam Citron who wrote (158213)	2/19/2005 11:45:29 AM
From: neolib	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Hearing Russia is to help Iran complete Bushehr nuclear reactor with spent fuel to be shipped back to Russia. US believes "Iran doesn't need nuclear power and the facility is part of plans to produce nuclear weapons". Just because Iran has lots of oil and gas does not suggest that it is unwise for a nation to have a diversified energy portfolio. And since the reactor is almost complete already, it is perfectly understandable, at least to me, that the Iranians would want to finish it. I understand US and Israeli paranoia also, but it remains plausable to me that Iran does not plan to produce nukes. Just wondered what others thought about this. I suspect Iran wants nukes. However, the smartest thing any major oil reserve holder can do is to severely limit what they sell for the next 20-50 years, then get 10x the price for their non-renewable resource. Why everyone in Alaska clamors to deplete their reserves pronto is beyond me!

To: Sam Citron who wrote (158213)	2/22/2005 4:33:24 PM
From: Jacob Snyder	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 281500

re: Russian help for Iranian nuke program: The Pakistani nuclear weapon program was really a collaborative effort. The Pakistanis freely exchanged material, tools, plans, with N. Korea, Iran, Libya, and others. The Saudis largely funded the effort. It should be thought of as an Islamic Bomb, not a Pakistani Bomb. Iranian oil isn't going to run out for a long time. From a purely economic viewpoint, it makes no sense to develop alternative energy sources, especially a difficult and expensive alternative like nuclear power. Civilian nuclear power programs, in Iran and elsewhere, create the materials and technology needed to make bombs. We've given Iran excellent reasons to want nuclear weapons. Iran is now totally surrounded by the Hegemon's soldiers and warships. Just like Pakistan, they will develop nuclear weapons, and use a civilian power program as a cover, and there isn't anything effective we can do about it.