IAEA chief warns of "crazies" seeking Iran war

[maddezmom]

Source: Reuters

LONDON, June 1 (Reuters) - The United Nations nuclear watchdog chief warned on Friday against the "new crazies" advocating military action to halt Iran's nuclear programme and said he did not want to see another war like that in Iraq.

"I wake every morning and see 100 Iraqis, innocent civilians, are dying," International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director Mohamed ElBaradei said in an interview for BBC Radio.

"I have no brief other than to make sure we don't go into another war or that we go crazy into killing each other. You do not want to give additional argument to new crazies who say 'let's go and bomb Iran'," he said in a documentary, excerpts from which were published on the BBC's Web site in advance.

Tehran has ignored repeated warnings and resolutions sponsored by world powers in the United Nations Security Council demanding that it cease uranium enrichment.

It was ElBaradei's strongest warning yet against the use of force. He has urged Western powers to consider allowing Iran limited enrichment he believes would pose no bomb proliferation risk and avert a feared slide into conflict.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L01338347.htm

[EFerrari]

1. He's wrong. They're the same old ones. n/t

[yava]

11. sfexpat2000 this is important: the guy is credible

and the consequences are huge.
El Baradi is a Nobel prize winner and an established international scientist and politician for the UN. For once the UN is funtioning. About his background, he is an Egyptian Sunni Muslem therefore no love lost for Iranian Shia leadership. If we don't listen to him, who do we refer to?
The think tanks paid by AIPAC?

[rodeodance]

2. This should be a wake up call!!

[Phredicles]

9. Yeah, it SHOULD be...

:banghead:

[dave_p]

3. Wow, strong stuff

I hope his position's secure against a Washington-engineered ouster. He was pretty firm on Iraq too, though the Agency's final all-clear came too late to derail that buildup. It's good to see the Agency hitting back: I wonder if BushCo will now admit they're the "new crazies" by taking offence?

[no_hypocrisy]

4. And Iran may start off not wanting to build a bomb, but with the right kind of

"encouragement", it will.

[ixion]

5. that would be the United States of Jeebus

unfortunately. :-(

[donkeyotay]

6. If Complicit News Network spent as much time informing the public

of the human suffering being caused by our actions as they have convincing the public that we "have to" bomb Iran, maybe the crazies wouldn't get away with Iraq, part 2.

"I wake every morning and see 100 Iraqis, innocent civilians, are dying," International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director Mohamed ElBaradei said in an interview for BBC Radio.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Programme web page, interview, and first half hour audio here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/nuclear_detectives/6643655.stm

The radio programme spent a year with the IAEA, not just in Iran, but all over the world.

[bamacrat]

8. If this regime does send us to war with anyone else there will be riots in the streets.

I seriously do not think anyone could get away with that now.

[Igel]

10. Long ago I interviewed with the NSA.

Linguist position, I'm pretty good at learning languages.

One question that I was asked--the question that made sure I didn't get a job offer--was concerning materials that would lead to war. It was something like, "If you listened to an intercept that clearly showed that there was a massive Russian build up, preparatory to war, and you believed that the only way to stop an invasion of West Germany would be a pre-emptive nuclear strike, would you relay the information promptly to your supervisor? Would you trust him and his superiors to make the right decision?" I dawdled, and said I didn't know.

In such a situation, the translator's views on war and ethics are to be to one side, and knowing that they're not is prima facie evidence that you cannot be trusted. It made sense to me at the time--I'd be incensed if I hired an employee to do a job and he decided his opinion as to what his job was was more important than mine.

'"I have no brief other than to make sure we don't go into another war or that we go crazy into killing each other. You do not want to give additional argument to new crazies who say 'let's go and bomb Iran'," he said in a documentary, excerpts from which were published on the BBC's Web site in advance.'

[jaybeat]

12. Problem is, if you don't hire anyone who's willing to think for themselves

Then you get a government with no moral compass, only obedience to the rulers.

That's why it is so important that government officers pledge to follow and protect the *Constitution* of the United States--not the government, the President, or any other person, group or party.

If you have sworn to uphold the Constitution, you violate that oath if you fail to *disobey* orders that would, based on your professional judgment, violate or threaten the Constitution.

No surprise then that Bush, Cheney, Gonzo and the rest all think the Constitution, the rule of law, the Bill of Rights, etc., are "quaint," and that they value and promote loyalty over competence at every turn of the road.

Professionals like ElBaradei, loyal only to the law and their own professional integrity, are an anathema to them and a huge impediment to their execution of arbitrary power. If they could have gotten rid of him, they would have done so a *long* time ago. History will judge him a hero, ignored as the world marched towards disaster.

May *someone* have mercy on our souls.

[Screwfly]

13. The real crazies

don't want Iran bombed or nuked into the stone age. They want a Circus Maximus like spectacle of soldiers fighting and dying for Iran inch by bloodily inch. I know one gun nut message board that has practically turned into a snuff fetish message board with all kinds of jack off fantasies about ground combat in Iraq.