by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright Octorber 24, 2007
All Rights Reserved.

romising that the Iran would not budge “one iota,” defiant President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected calls to suspend its uranium enrichment program. Heading for a collision course in the U.N. Security Council, Ahmadinejad stuck to his guns refusing to give up “nuclear technology” because of the West's fears about an Iranian A-bomb. Iran has consistently denied charges that it's pursuing A-bombs not the peaceful use of nuclear power for electricity. President George W. Bush has warned in recent days that failure to stop Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons could lead to WW III, something once thought, during the Cold War, unthinkable. Russian President Vladimir V. Putin's recent meeting with Ahmadinejad throws a monkey wrench into Bush's plans to pressure the Security Council into more sanctions. Putin supports Ahmadinejad, warning the U.S. against military action.

      Vice President Dick Cheney emphatically declared Oct. 21 in a speech to Washington Institute for Near East Studies that the U.S. would not allow Tehran to get a nuclear weapon. “Our country, and the entire international community, cannot stand by as a terror-supporting state fulfills its grandest ambitions,” said Cheney, forgetting that Russia, China and a host of other states, support Iran's rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. That's the same logic that led Pakistan's infamous bomb-maker A.Q. Khan to spread nuclear technology to the third world to keep the peace. While Ahmadinejad has already expressed his desire to “wipe Israel off the map,” it's not altogether clear whether it's pure propaganda or Iran's political agenda. That's the real problem with Ahmadinejad: No one really knows what he's talking about.

      Iran's uranium enrichment already includes over 3,000 centrifuges spinning uranium hexafloride gas into weapons grade uranium. So far, the watered down U.N. Security sanctions do little to deter Ahmadinejad from heeding calls from the International Atomic Energy Agency and Security Council to stop enriching uranium. “We will not allow Ira to have a nuclear weapon,” insisted Cheney, not specifying how he plans to prevent Tehran to developing weapons grade uranium. With the U.S. bogged down in Iraq and oil hitting $90 a barrel, it's unrealistic for the U.S. to open up a new battlefront. Recent wild fires in Southern California prove that the U.S. military, Reserves and National Guard are already stretched so thin they can't perform emergency management. Militarily speaking, the U.S. already finds itself fighting too many open-ended fires.

      Putin's new strategic alliance with Tehran attempts to neutralize U.S. influence in the Middle East. Although Putin is slated to leave office next June, he's busy rewriting the Russian constitution to strip the presidency of power and bestow it to prime minister, a position he intends occupy next year. Shifting power to prime minister allows Putin to anoint himself Russia's next czar. He has every intention of forging new alliances to limit U.S. power around the globe. It's no accident that Russia builds Iran's $1 billion Bushehr nuclear power plant. It's also no fluke that Russia supplies weapons to Shiite, Sunni, al-Qaida or other terrorists around the globe. Putin remembers well the U.S. funding Osama bin Laden to fight Russian occupation in Afghanistan 27 years ago. Since the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, Putin seeks to restore the glory days of Russia's superpower status.

      Bush keeps beating the war drums with no one listening. “So, I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding WW III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them [Iran] form having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon,” Bush told a White House press conference Oct. 20, making yet again another non sequitur. No nuclear non-proliferation program can prevent governments from acquiring knowledge. Bush's pitched battle involves pressuring Iran to stop enriching uranium—the exact technology supplied by Pakistan and Russia. Slapping Iran with unilateral economic sanctions won't dent Iran's feverish pursuit of A-bombs. Former Centom Commander John P. Abizaid recently said Sept. 23 that the world could live with a nuclear-armed Iran, urging the White House to avoid military action over Iran's uranium enrichment program.

      Bush hopes to convince Putin to join his side in pressuring Ahmadinejad to stopping enriching uranium. What Bush doesn't get—or refuses to admit publicly—is that Putin is no friend of the United States. His recent meeting with Ahmadinejad proves he's strategically aligned with Iran and opposes any and all attempts by the U.S. to pressure Iran into abandoning its nuclear program. “The thing I'm interested in is whether or not he continues to harbor the same concerns that I do,” asked Bush, as if the answer is still open for debate. Even before the Iraq War, Putin's mission involved challenging the U.S. for global supremacy, creating strategic alliances with bitter U.S. enemies and sabotaging key elements of U.S. foreign policy. When it comes to stopping Iran's blinding pursuit of A-bombs, Putin believes that a nuclear-armed Iran helps his goal of checking U.S. power.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

©1999-2005 Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.
(310) 204-8300
All Rights Reserved.