This is something that everyone has heard about. An ongoing issue that is being beaten to the ground. But is it still worth discussing?
As of right now U.S. intelligence knows...almost nothing about Iran's nuclear capabilities. This means that the World know almost nothing. How much Uranium have they actually enriched? Are they capable of a nuclear bomb? Do they have the technology? Are negotiations going well, or is Iran using them to stall and gain more time? Many, many questions are arising.
As of what we know, Iran has enriched certain amounts of Uranium (the amounts are unknown to us) up to 20%. What is know to the World is that for a well-running nuclear power plant Uranium only needs to be enriched to around 3 or 4%. Does 20% seem a little excessive? Iran's claim is that this is only for "peaceful", experimental purposes.
Recently Iran shut off access completely to one of its nuclear sites. Now they are saying sorry and will allow inspections. Why was access closed off in the first place?
In the United Nations (U.N.) it was considered a "small success" that Iran agreed to begin negotiations again. Some people ask, how long have these negotiations been going on? Well Iran has been suspected of striving for a nuclear bomb for many years. Negotiations and monitoring (what little has been done that is) has lasted for over 10 years now! Why is it taking so long?!
So, what could the outcomes be?
In my opinion, there are 3 possible outcomes:
1) The U.N. decides to crack down and actually tell Iran that it will be inspecting their facilities FULLY and do a thorough scan. There are already rules in place for nuclear programs and inspections, and the U.N. should enforce them. Otherwise they are worthless (other nations would seize that opportunity in a heart beat). Iran either lets that happen because it truly has nothing to hide, or
2) Iran does not allow full inspections and tries to keep having secrets and restricted areas. This leads to war. Either the U.S. takes charge and decides to threaten Iran into submission or actually attacks. If that does not happen, then we all know that Israel will do a preemptive strike.
3) "Negotiations" or time-delay as I think they should be called, works for Iran and they finish their nuclear production and nuclear war is a real and deadly possibility. With many times more casualties than that of a preemptive strike started war.
There are some that say that a preemptive strike is not the answer because we have had too many wars. They express the hope that "peaceful negotiations are the key". Well, how long again have negotiations been going on for this exact topic? 10 years? Yes it seems like negotiations are going very well.
To clarify, I am not a fan of war. I don't want every disagreement to degrade into killing, fighting and death. However, I do believe that some wars must be fought. That the loss of some for the greater good can be a necessary thing. Yes, I would be and am willing to give my life for that. Especially if it means that a nuclear and much more destructive war is stopped. The small battle would save millions of lives.
Again, right now we know almost nothing as to what Iran is actually doing. We know that they want to "wipe Israel off the map" and we know that Israel would be glad to fight back. We also know that something needs to change...and soon. Predictions state that Iran could have a nuclear bomb within 6 months (some claim it would only be a crude nuclear bomb...I say that it is still a nuclear bomb, no matter how crude and that is something to worry about). Well, those 6 months could have begun 6 months ago...or 9 years ago. Time is important. Life is important. Action and MAKING decisions (not discussing them) is what will decide our future.
Read more:
BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17410037
Ploughshares:
http://www.ploughshares.org/blog/topic/iran?gclid=CIKgm-WLha8CFW-Ctgod0WHL1A
New York Times link:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/iran/nuclear_program/index.html
CNN link:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/08/opinion/ghitis-iran-conflict/index.html
Los Angeles Times link:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/03/how-close-is-iran-to-getting-a-nuclear-weapon-.html
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