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:: MAX BLACK ::

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." --C.S. Lewis

"The Swiss pocket knife of conservative thought on the web..." - Eli Kardrakian

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:: Sunday, August 22, 2004 ::

Nuclear Extortion

With the announcement that Russia will supply Iran with nuclear reactor(s), the Kremlin increases tensions in middle east while simutaneously throwing a wrench into efforts by the State Department and the IAEA to defang the Iranian WMD threat. Of course, in principle, this move is all about blocking 'American hegemony' but underneath it all, Putin's intentions are venal--payola; if Bush doesn't like it, he can buy-out the Iranian reactor contracts.

This method of international extortion is getting old. Bush should follow the Isreali model and allow Iran to purchase and build the Russian reactors; as they near completion bomb them to rubble. This approach transfers the loss from US taxpayers to the Russians and Iranians and forstalls indefinitely another WMD crisis.

Related: A. Q. Kahn, the Typhoid Mary of nuclear arms proliferation, may have given Iran a leg up in their quest for WMDs.

Also Related:

"Iran conducted a successful test Wednesday of its ballistic missile, the Defense Ministry said. The missile is capable of reaching U.S. Forces in the Middle East and was produced in response to Isreali efforts to improve its own missle power.

The missle, the Shahab-3, which Iran last successfully tested in 2002 before equipping its elite Revolutionary Guards with it in July 2003, is its longest-range ballistic missle, with a range of 1,300 kilometers, or 800 miles."

Monday morning update: Toss a little Chinese missle technology into the pot for good measure and the only thing missing from the stew is a pinch of Chirac and a splash of Schroeder. (with this much action, the hyenas are circling--I can feel it)

Obviously, what the US needs right now is a little measured, nuanced, metrosexual diplomacy from the French-speaking John Kerry...he has all these European connections you know...

:: Max 11:38 AM [+] ::
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