President Obama told the General Assembly at the United Nations that the “United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” but warned that time “is not unlimited,” to resolve the issue diplomatically.
“America wants to resolve this issue through diplomacy, and we believe there is still time and space to do so,” Obama said. “We respect the right of nations to access peaceful nuclear power,” he added, but Iran “has failed to take the opportunity to demonstrate that its nuclear program is peaceful.”
Iran has repeatedly stated that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only and that it is not interested in obtaining nuclear weapons. The UN nuclear watch-dog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has continuously inspected Iran’s declared nuclear sites, finding again and again that there is no evidence that Iran is diverting any of the nuclear material to any undeclared sites.
Additionally, and as the Obama administration itself has repeatedly pointed out, the consensus in the US intelligence community is that Iran has no nuclear weapons program and that any weaponization activities were dismantled as far back as 2003.
Contrast that with the US’s main ally in the Middle East, Israel, which has pressured the Obama administration towards a pro-war stance on Iran, and which has a secret nuclear weapons program of its own that it refuses to open up for international inspections.
Obama claimed “a nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained.” He said “It would threaten the elimination of Israel, the security of Gulf nations, and the stability of the global economy” and that, “It risks triggering a nuclear-arms race in the region.”
There is no evidence and no reason at all to believe that a nuclear-armed Iran would drop atomic bombs on Israel, thus inviting retaliation by nuclear-armed adversaries like Israel and the United States, as Obama implied. Many, if not most, international relations scholars believe that a nuclear-armed Iran could in fact be contained and that there is little reason, historically speaking, that it would spark a nuclear-arms race in the region.
“Every time another country has managed to shoulder its way into the nuclear club,” wrote renowned scholar Kenneth Waltz in Foreign Affairs recently, “the other members have always changed tack and decided to live with it. In fact, by reducing imbalances in military power, new nuclear states generally produce more regional and international stability, not less.”
“Israel’s regional nuclear monopoly,” Waltz added, “which has proved remarkably durable for the past four decades, has long fueled instability in the Middle East. In no other region of the world does a lone, unchecked nuclear state exist. It is Israel’s nuclear arsenal, not Iran’s desire for one, that has contributed most to the current crisis. Power, after all, begs to be balanced.”
Obama’s UN comments occur in the context of a US administration that publicly admits Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapons program, but has nonetheless moved to militarily surround Iran and heap harsh economic sanctions on the country, despite the tragic suffering to millions of civilians it is causing.
This is the famous American double standard, the hypocrisy to the umpteenth degree.
Obama: blah blah blah, blah blah blah
Oh dear! Despite all their resources for foreign policy advice, the presidential candidates display either their ignorance or their determination to distort the facts. Obama refers to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty as if the United States were its guardian. But although the overwhelming majority of nations have signed or acceded to the treaty, their are four notable exceptions. The first, with by far the biggest armoury (CIA reports of the last century) is Israel. The others are India, Pakistan and North Korea. Unlike Iraq and Iran, Israel has never accepted IAEA inspection and attempts to denigrate its reports.
No wonder that Middle Eastern countries, with the exception of Saudi Arabia and its satraps, cannot view the Americans as honest brokers; rather the reverse. As a Briton, I despair, particularly as our FM appears to happily ape U.S. policy. Truth is taking a terribly long time to out.
North Korea originally signed the NPT. When they were threatened by George W. Bush and described as part of his 'axis of evil,' North Korea formally resigned from the treaty and went on with their nuclear program.
Sorry but he's a douchbag. He's just confirmed it.If he can lie like that before the UN with a straight face then he is a man that cannot be trusted.
It seems disingenuous to say that 'time is not limited' for Iran to prove that it does not have a nuclear weapon program when it has never been proven that they do have one. Nobody can disprove someone else's suspicions if they simply refuse to let go of those suspicions. It doesn't sound like that could ever happen because Israel will insist on the contrary and American politicians do not have the nerve to deny Israel.
Exactly what it MUST do,besides planning and framing for 365 days a year about going into WAR…Do you really have any second thought til this day…I DO NOT believe soooo.
"Do what we must?"
What we must do is make a deal, starting with an offer that respects Iran's legitimate interests in return for securing ours. Netanyahu will rave and scream and refuse. He is the problem as much as Iran, maybe more.
Just do the deal. No war.
Hope my truthfull comments show.
If Waltz is correct and "power begs to be balanced", then the United States is in deep doodoo. For years I have repeatedly drawn the analogy of the "school yard bully" to the activities of the U.S.-Israeli activities to reconfigure the middle east to suit Israel's lust for power, oil control and dominance on the world stage.
I remember too many instances in which bullies are dragged off and beaten by a consortium of fed up victims — in some cases murdered. There is spirit within most humans which tolerates far too much abuse. This is even referenced in the Declaration of Independence in discussion of the actions of that King George which precipitated the American Revolution. Yet, that spirit has limits. Many, many countries are fed up with American-Israel empire bullies. If peace is to be obtained, the international community needs to act definitively BEFORE crisis level. Unfortunately, I doubt they will do so in time, largely because of the control Israel wields over the international monetary policies and central banks. I hope I am wrong.
ISRAEL is the real problem!!!
The U.S. is trying so hard to block Iran's nuclear program because they are developing alternate energy sources. This isn't Obama…. it is the puppeteers behind him with corporate oil interests blocking another country's chance at energy independence.