Iran Being Referred to the UN Security Council

IAEA to Report Iran to Security Council

"The U.N. nuclear watchdog on Saturday reported Iran to the U.N. Security Council in a resolution expressing concern Tehran's nuclear program may not be "exclusively for peaceful purposes."

...Still, any such moves were weeks if not months away. Two permanent council members, Russia and China, agreed to referral only on condition the council take no action before March."

Hmmm... March seems to be the swing-date for everybody. If you still owe money on your taxes, this would seem to be a good year to file at the last minute.

"...Javed Vaeidi, the deputy head of Iran's powerful Security Council, said his country would "immediately" retaliate.

He said that after approval by the Iranian council, Iran would stop honoring an agreement with the IAEA allowing its inspectors broad powers to monitor and probe Tehran's nuclear activities and would start work on full-scale uranium enrichment — an activity that can produce the fissile core of nuclear warheads.

...Washington compromised on Egypt's demand that the resolution include support for the creation of a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East. Egypt and other Arab states have long linked the two issues of Iran's atomic ambitions and Israel's nuclear weapons status....A Western diplomat at the meeting said the United States felt strongly about not linking Israel to nuclear concerns in the Middle East when it considers Iran the real threat. But the Americans relented in the face of overwhelming European support for such a clause."

And of course, fresh on the heels of the above report comes "Dirty Don" Rumsfeld to drop this bombshell:

Rumsfeld: Iran Regime Sponsors Terrorism

"Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld urged America's allies to increase their military spending to prevent the rise of a "global extremist Islamic empire."

..."The Iranian regime is today the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism," he said in prepared remarks. "The world does not want, and must work together to prevent, a nuclear Iran.

..."The struggle ahead promises to be a long war that will cause us all to recalibrate our strategies, perhaps further adjust our institutions, and certainly work closely together," he said.

...But he pointed out that the United States spends 3.7 percent of its Gross Domestic Product on national defense while 19 of the 25 other NATO nations spend less than 2 percent of their GDP on defense.

He did not name countries, but Germany, which spends 1.4 percent of its GDP on defense, and others have been under pressure to step up their funding.

"It may be easier for all of us to use our scarce tax dollars to meet urgent needs we all have at home," Rumsfeld said. "But unless we invest in our defense and security, our homelands will be at risk."

Ah, yes...the world may be going to hell in a handbasket, but we'll profit with every step....

Comments

[mynewsbot]

Let EU take the lead

[qrswave]

Doesn't anybody tell him what a hypocrite he sounds like?

There's something weird happening at my blog.

It's not accessible from the homepage now, but check out this post on Iran and this article from the Centre for Research on Globalization.

[dougr]

elsewhere...concerning another hemisphere:

"Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld likened Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Adolf Hitler, reflecting continuing tension in relations between the United States and the Latin American government."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2006/02/03/national/w102220S62.DTL

Maybe his title should be Offense Secretary