I know a thing about nuclear reactors. Iran is working on a “Breeder” reactor which could be considered civilian/energy related, but it is not. Currently there are far better, safer reactor designs that are not capable of producing plutonium (pebble bed is known to be meltdown-proof). In Iran’s case, these reactors are ideal because they would buy the fuel from Russia in the first place, use it, and throw it away, but in a breeder reactor design, the spent fuel could be put back into the reactor core and converted to plutonium, and tritium could be produced for megaton-class weapons, so your statement that the nuclear energy program appears to be for energy is overly optimistic. Iran appears reckless as they put aside public safety for reactor “flexibility”. I’m sure France would be in there in an instant building the pebble bed reactor should Iran decide they are willing to comply with international pressure, but no, they have to have the breeder reactor.

The pressing issue I see here is that the UN is incapable of action that is necessary to prevent a war. If the international community fails to put a stop to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, then Israel will. They have already made it clear that they “will not allow” Iran to gain nuclear capabilities. It’s not clear to me how problematic it would be if Israel were to bomb Iran, it could turn the whole region into a battlefield, but I’d bet that it would just be a Lebannon conflict x50.

What do you expect to happen, Duane?

Many people cite the return of Israel in the 1950’s to the Middle East as the event that truly kicked off the current cycle of violence in Israel and Lebanon. While that may be entirely possible, does that give Hizbullah the right to attack innocent civilians whenever and wherever it may be convenient? While Israel is far from innocent, they seem to primarily react to provocation. Some would say that the solution is to simply “not react”, and “be the bigger man”, but that’s hard to do when the opposition has sworn to remove you from the face of the Earth.

The same goes for Iran… While people would like to believe that Iran’s intentions truly are peaceful, President Ahmadinejad has made several inflammatory remarks regarding Israel lately. Israel is a sovereign state, and when Iran avows the destruction of another sovereign state that has done little to provoke them aside from simply “existing”, I think we should hold them at arm’s length. At the very least. And of course you could draw parallels to the US attacking Iraq, but of course you would have to ignore the fact that Iraq was run by an evil dictator, and that at the time (repeat: at the time) we thought that Iraq was involved with Al-Qaeda, WMDs, etc.

And as far as Iran’s nuclear program goes, I think their motivations there are extremely suspect as well. They large supplies of domestic oil, which means that power is very cheap to generate. Gasoline in Iran is almost free, it’s so inexpensive. So, why should a country with such existing abundant supplies of energy be so vigorously seeking nuclear energy? It certainly doesn’t seem to be out of necessity. Yet another reason to not take Iran at face value. And, to repeat Brad’s point, we are not alone on the Iran issue. The only countries that aren’t on board are the ones selling Iran military equipment, namely Russia and China.

As far as our current president goes, I’m getting rather tired of him. He’s not terribly presidential, as it were, and I also agree that it will be good to have a new president as soon as possible. However, I think that calling him a criminal or anything of the type is an extreme exaggeration. Based on information I’ve seen on PBS (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darkside/), perhaps the blame lies elsewhere. Or maybe we just don’t know at all… But one thing that’s a cornerstone of American justice, and something we should all be thankful for, is that you are presumed innocent until proven guilty. There are other countries where this isn’t true, and you could be tossed in jail simply for announcing that you think that dear President Ahmadinejad is a bit of a fruitcake.

Brad: Thanks for your comments. I appreciate the perspectives you bring as well.

Duane: “My point here is that Iran has *no choice* but to be politically and financially responsible for the mess in Iraq.”

Duane: “To my knowledge, they are not doing anything at the moment.”

Are you sure they don’t have a choice?

You have mentioned that Iran is a neighbor, this is true. I’m sure that to some extent there are also refugees entering Iran from Iraq. However, my original question still stands. In my opinion, you have not adequately explained how Iran is bearing, or will bear, the political and social burden for the war in Iraq.

Duane: “But _if_ Iran’s close ties to Hizballah is any indication of how Iran will treat the poor and the weary…”

Duane: “Where does “what if” end?”

This is a big IF. Don’t get me wrong, I sure hope that you’re right, and that Iran decides to help out the poor and weary in Iraq by peacefully contributing to the reconstruction effort. But as you mentioned elsewhere, “I think we should work with the evidence.” The evidence is that right now, Iran is doing nothing to help reconstruct. I am concerned that you are using wishful thinking, which has yet to become reality, to elevate Iran above the United States in the rebuilding effort, especially considering the American casualties that have come about to make that effort successful.

Duane: “The United States does not *have to* help in the same way as Iran does.”

Precisely, yet we do anyway.

Duane: “But there are thousands of people in Lebanon who are willing to covertly help Hizballah. Why? Are they all terrorists?”

If they knowingly and consciously support an organization that carries out suicide bombings and _deliberate_ attacks on civilians, then I would say that to some extent they are. At the least, some of them are religious fundamentalists that value the furthering of their own idealogical agenda above the rule of law and the peaceful co-existence with those who differ in opinion or belief. I know the world isn’t that simple, and this is a complicated issue, so I hope you don’t take these statements in relation to Hezbollah to the extreme. You cannot say that ALL of Hezbollah’s supporters are terrorists. Nor, however, can you say that it’s OK for people to support suicide bombings. Nor can you so easily sweep the crimes of Hezbollah under the rug simply because they are being charitable with their own people.

Duane: “The question, I believe, is almost irrelevant. Neither his staying nor his leaving will reprieve him of his first crime.”

Then you would agree that bringing this up in support of your claims/criticisms is also irrelevant? Like I said before, the opponents of the war will use _anything_ as ammunition–regardless of how relevant.

Duane: “At the moment, we are trying to keep the number of deaths down. I’m not sure I would consider that “rebuilding”. Maybe it’s fair to say we’re trying.”

For one who likes to make sure he is seeing the whole picture and not just having media-induced tunnel vision, you seem to be focusing a little too exclusively on the violence and chaos. Let’s do take a more honest and full view of what rebuilding actual means (and yes you are right, keeping the deaths down is an obvious piece–but only a piece). This is taken from http://chrenkoff.blogspot.com/2004/10/good-news-from-iraq-part-13.html:

“According to the head of the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office, Ambassador William Taylor, reconstruction is progressing well: ‘Right now there are 28 water treatment plants under construction, and five have been completed. I’ll just go through a quick list and then open to your questions. There are 13 sewer projects under construction; one’s been completed. There are 72 health care facilities under construction, and 73 more have been completed. There are 3,100 schools that have been rehabilitated. There are five public buildings under construction; one’s completed. There are 39,000 police trained and equipped across this country. There are 14,000 Border Police trained and equipped. There are three regular army battalions trained and equipped; eight National Guard battalions trained and equipped; 62 border forts under construction; nine fire stations under construction; 37 electricity distribution substations under construction or under rehabilitation; nine military bases under construction.’”

There are many soldiers in Iraq who blog about the reconstruction effort and the good that is being done. We typically don’t hear about this sort of thing in the media. Let’s not focus our lens too squarely on the negative simply in order to downplay the role our country is playing in reconstruction. It’s also worth pointing out yet again that Iran is not helping to rebuild water treatment plants, schools, hospitals, etc., or sacrificing the lives of their soldiers and civilians to further the rule of law and order in Iraq.

Duane: “I just can’t get around 9/11 without believing there was gross criminal negligence or criminal intent on the part of the Bush administration. Given the strong evidence, the lens through which I see our world has refocused.”

I’m not going to bother arguing with you on this, because you’ve made up your mind. I just want to point out that there is also plenty of evidence to the contrary. Like you’ve mentioned in a previous post, I think we can agree to disagree on this.

Duane: “While I am no authority on the Middle East and its cycles of bloodshed and hatred, I am surprised that you think there is such a clear “bad guy” that instigated the war this summer.”

I agree that the situation is complex. I am not saying the Israelis are without fault. The hatred has gone on so long that it is hard to say who was originally at fault. Sooner or later someone has to be the “bigger man” so to speak. It sure would be nice if the “bigger man” were Hezbollah! My point in saying what I did was to show that Iran has also played a role for inciting violence, albeit indirectly, and thus holds a degree of responsibility. Criticize the United States for doing so, but please also acknowledge Iran as well.

Duane: “We think that “cooperating with the international community” is synonymous with “cooperating with the United States”.”

Please see http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/sc8792.doc.htm. In the case of Iran enriching Uranium, it is not just the United States that is demanding cooperation. There is a reason the Security Council feels strongly about this.

I agree that the war was not justified. Turns out there weren’t any WMDs, and Saddam wasn’t in league with Al Qaeda. I do not believe that President Bush started the war knowing this in advance, and I do not believe that the complications in Iraq prove that Bush is an evil conspirator. I however do not agree with everything he does. In fact, I think it will be good for the nation when a new president is elected into office. That is how our country works, through change.

Also, let’s be honest about why there is so much violence and a possible civil war in Iraq. Yes, our deposing Saddam made this possible. In this sense, the United States is responsible, and we share in that responsibility. On the other hand, you cannot withhold accountability from the Iraqi people. The fact of the matter is, there would be no civil war if it were not for deep-seated hatred that exists among the Iraqi people themselves. If the Shiites and Sunnis and Kurds would learn how to get along, there would be no civil war. They hate each other almost as much as they hate us. The United States overestimated the ability of the Iraqi people to peacefully govern themselves, this is true. However, we are not responsible for their hatred against other occupants of their own nation–they are. Nor are we responsible for the deep-seated hatreds that exist in other peoples in the region. A prime example is Hammas and Palestinian President Abbas, who cannot seem to cooperate, even though they should be cooperating in a common purpose. Yes there is blame to be laid at the feet of our government, but NO, we are NOT the only party at fault.

Yes, let us take the letter of good will, but let us also look at the realities and actions of Iran before so sweepingly condemning the United States and praising Iran as the solution to the problem.