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EDITORIAL: All options on the table(Comtex Energy Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)FULLERTON, Calif., Apr 19, 2006 (Daily Titan, U-WIRE via COMTEX) --The countdown begins, the missiles launch, and we are minutes away from the end of life on Earth as we know it. This scenario isn't taken from "Dr. Strangelove" or some doom-crying science fiction novel. This scenario is what we could be faced with should diplomatic options between the United States and Iran turn out to be as fruitful as U.S. negotiations with Iraq. Iran has instituted a uranium enrichment program and has managed to enrich some uranium, which it proudly showcased to the world. Iran said it will use the uranium to generate nuclear power, the Bush administration, which has very little experience with lying, doesn't believe them. They think the uranium enrichment program for civilian power might help mask a nuclear weapons program. Bush has refused to rule out a military option in the case of Iran, telling reporters that the U.S. would keep all options on the table. When asked by a reporter if that meant using a nuclear strike against Iran, the president repeated his mantra: All options are on the table. The president did add that he hoped for diplomatic solution. Iran did some saber rattling of its own when its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, announced that the Iranian army would, "cut off the hand of any aggressor and leave the enemy covered in shame." Meanwhile, delegates from eight countries, including the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council met in Moscow to iron out a plan on how they should deal with Iran's nuclear ambitions. Iran has been given a deadline, April 28, to stop its uranium enrichment program. The past has shown us that some countries just shouldn't have nuclear weapons - especially those with unstable governments. We don't have to look any farther than our own Cold War enemy, the former Soviet Union, to see why. After the collapse of the Soviet Union we saw a disappearance of nuclear warheads and, during the post-Sept.11 media blitz on terrorism, it was speculated that the pilfered warheads may be used against the U.S. in a terrorist attack. While Iran should be granted every right to produce nuclear power to help its civilian population, the U.S. has a vested interest in ensuring that they don't produce nuclear weapons, and should pursue every avenue it can to stop them from obtaining them. But Bush should treat the situation with kid gloves. Our only options can't be nuclear war, or a sequel to the blockbuster war in Iraq. Tough talk about nuclear weapons mean nothing coming from the only man in the U.S. with a fallout shelter in which to hide. |