Submitted by angelusjames on Thu, 2006-11-02 19:28
the nuclear question
Your comments, please, on the question of going nuke to help resolve the energy issue and global warming.
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Middle East Going Nuke! The new arms race...very likely.
The New York Times Magazine has an excellent article on the topic:
Islam, Terror and the Second Nuclear Age
"Adding the nuclear ingredient to this volatile mix will certainly produce an arms race. If Iran is going to get the bomb, its neighbors will have no choice but to keep up. North Korea, now protected by its own bomb, has threatened proliferation — and in the Middle East it would find a number of willing buyers. Small principalities with huge U.S. Air Force bases, like Qatar, might choose to rely on an American protective umbrella. But Saudi Arabia, which has always seen Iran as a threatening competitor, will not be willing to place its nuclear security entirely in American hands. Once the Saudis are in the hunt, Egypt will need nuclear weapons to keep it from becoming irrelevant to the regional power balance — and sure enough, last month Gamal Mubarak, President Mubarak’s son and Egypt’s heir apparent, very publicly announced that Egypt should pursue a nuclear program."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/magazine/29islam.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
Donal Bailey
The NUKE chase is ON in the Middle East.
Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, UAE and Saudi Arabia seek atom technology
THE SPECTRE of a nuclear race in the Middle East was raised yesterday when six Arab states announced that they were embarking on programmes to master atomic technology.
The move, which follows the failure by the West to curb Iran’s controversial nuclear programme, could see a rapid spread of nuclear reactors in one of the world’s most unstable regions, stretching from the Gulf to the Levant and into North Africa.
The countries involved were named by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Saudi Arabia. Tunisia and the UAE have also shown interest.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2436948,00.html
Donal Bailey
The heat is on --- warmer than just yesterday
Incredible news out of the Middle East yesterday - it has taken the world by storm. But i'll add a few points to keep in mind as the next days and weeks and months shed more light on what's happening.
(1) there are 30 countries now that produce nuclear power, excluding Iran but including some questionable regimes in the former Soviet Union and Asia and Latin America where political power can change hands very quickly
(2) because these are six Arab states which subscribe to Islam as their indigenous faith doesn't mean they are joining Al-Quaeda - in fact these are moderate states that feel vulnerable to al-Quaeda and Iran.
(3) this latest twist - which could have happened 40 or 30 years ago - has to be dealt with in a coherent manner. Two weeks ago the IEA insisted that a whole new NPT should be considered to account for recent developments.
I'm not sure what the answer is, but the atomic genie was out of the bottle for all of my lifetime and it's a shock to me that we haven't dealt with this before. Time to come up with new ideas. And quick.
James
Ahmadinejadism Housing cost double Basic Goods Triple
The Iranian president and his government peers are not into small econonimc change steps. Insider Bloggers now report that Ahmadinejad and the controlling religious order, the Council of Guardians, are pulling the economic strings to show that they are in firm control. The government implementated an economy back breaking gasoline rationing scheme literally over night for all of Iran, which, despite being the world's number-three oil producer, Iran is still a net importer of finished petroleum products like - GAS. Under the rules, drivers are now restricted to 26 gallons per month, at the government subsidized rate of 38 cents per gallon (U.S.). and Taxis get maximum of 211 gallons. This follows the 25% price increase frorm late May that led to the current 38 cent price. But as other experts have pointed out, petrol prices are not rising in a consumer vacuum. The prices of houses has double while basic goods have tripled under Ahmadinejad's leadership. Panicked moterist queues are visible. Blogger Mehdi Mohseni wrote that the "last minute announcement of the start of the rationing caused a predictable psychological shock in society." "However," ... "one must admit that an important step has been taken toward the efficient use of energy." Blogger Siamak Qasemi, in his article "Ahmadinejadism," says that the quicksilver decision-making of the Iranian president has "placed the country in a completely unstable situation."
Iranian Black market of GAS kicked in over drive as soon as the ration cap was placed on. Drivers were still willing to pay the equivalent of $1.10 per liter ($4.16 per gallon), a 1,100% premium on the official price.