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Nuclear scientist killed in Tehran was Iran's top Stuxnet expert

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Re: Nuclear scientist killed in Tehran was Iran's top Stuxnet expert

#51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> civilian program to produce nuclear power plants Desperately needed in a country with the world's third-largest oil reserves.

They have hardly any refining capacity to actually use those reserves. There's no doubt though that they feel having nuclear weapons will be a deterrent after how close they came to having their government wiped out by Cheney et. al.

They are trying to build _a_ bomb at this point. They are no where near the point they can deter the US from meddling. One bomb, however, will deter those with no bombs.

Re: Nuclear scientist killed in Tehran was Iran's top Stuxnet expert

#52
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That MO sounds familiar. I had no idea there were so many Mossad operations in south central LA.

Levity aside - this MO is not common in the Middle East. This is not your typical gang-war drive-by shooting.

No one claimed it was. There are a lot more potential culprits than the Mossad, though, and plenty of folks in the region who'd be quite happy to have the Mossad blamed for something that benefits them (as the diplomatic cables detailing the Arab nations' opinions on Iran have shown).

Re: Nuclear scientist killed in Tehran was Iran's top Stuxnet expert

#53
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> civilian program to produce nuclear power plants Desperately needed in a country with the world's third-largest oil reserves.

They should know better than anyone what the state of their reserves are. It would be a pity for them to squander the wealth that comes from selling their oil without having created any lasting infrastructure.

Yeah, I wonder what that would be like.

Re: Nuclear scientist killed in Tehran was Iran's top Stuxnet expert

#54
post #13
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're a scientist working on weapons systems (which is a debatable claim in this instance), you're not a civilian.

So you think that, for example, a University prof. who gets grants and funding from a countries defense department is a legitimate target?

Anyone engaged in military\defense contracting is a legitimate target of war under the Geneva convention.

Re: Nuclear scientist killed in Tehran was Iran's top Stuxnet expert

#55
post #48
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The King of of the UAE even begged the US to bomb Iran... Obviously Iran wants the bomb, and given the crazy guy in charge it should make anyone feel _very_ uncomfortable. The last time they pursued this the Israelis at some point bombed their reactor. Why would Iran risk an outright attack just to build nuclear power plants? Doesn't make sense on any level. A nuke on the other hand is a guarantee that nobody is goin…

The last time they pursued this the Israelis at some point bombed their reactor. That was Iraq, at Osirak. But your larger point is correct. Nobody in foreign policy circles takes Iran's claims about having only a peaceful nuclear program seriously. Especially not when two of the main facilities were built in secret before being uncovered by dissidents and Western intelligence agencies. No country pursuing a purely p…

More or less like Israel. And i'm not comparing them. I think we can not trust Iran (the government) but is not the only country spreading FUD and probably not even the biggest liar.

Re: Nuclear scientist killed in Tehran was Iran's top Stuxnet expert

#56
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The last time they pursued this the Israelis at some point bombed their reactor. That was Iraq, at Osirak. But your larger point is correct. Nobody in foreign policy circles takes Iran's claims about having only a peaceful nuclear program seriously. Especially not when two of the main facilities were built in secret before being uncovered by dissidents and Western intelligence agencies. No country pursuing a purely p…

More or less like Israel. And i'm not comparing them. I think we can not trust Iran (the government) but is not the only country spreading FUD and probably not even the biggest liar.

All countries lie, it's part and parcel of diplomacy. Expecting otherwise is to naively anthropomorphise states.

And while Israel does have a covert nuclear program that's more or less an open secret these days, it's not directly comparable to Iran. That's because Israel is considered by its neighbours, despite the rhetoric, to be a rational and stable nuclear power that does not have regional ambitions. Israel's nuclear doctrine is explicitly understood by those in the region to be defensive doctrine, intended to ensure Israel's survival rather than to exert influence and control over the entire region.

Iran, on the other hand, does have regional power ambitions and both the intensity of the religious beliefs held by many of those in power combined with its opaque civil and military governing structures mean that its neighbours are not convinced that the country would be a rational nuclear power. Sunni states like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt are incredibly concerned about what Iran could do if protected by a nuclear umbrella and free to use its affiliated groups like Hezbollah to destabilise the traditional Arab powerhouses of the Middle East. That's why the Wikileaks cables have shown Arab leaders to be even more strident than the Israelis in wanting US action against Iran.

So in the end, it's not about who is the biggest liar or who is spreading FUD. It's about the fact that Iran is a country which has potentially dangerous motives, a stated desire to regain 'lost' influence over the Middle East and a covert nuclear weapons program. Any one of these would be cause for concern; the presence of all three combined is the reason so many countries are worried enough to regard military action as a viable option.

Re: Nuclear scientist killed in Tehran was Iran's top Stuxnet expert

#57
post #34
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree with you, but you can take it further: what if someone is growing potatoes, some of which go to feed weapons systems (troops)?

I don't know what international law says, but I'd destroy the crops and leave the farmer alone.

Didn't work so well the last time we tried it: http://viartis.net/parkinsons.disease/images/AgentOrange.jpg
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