Amazing Bat Boy seen in Tehran

12Sep08

The vast level of unadulterated horse manure on the subject of Iran is a sight to behold.  But then again, after watching the McCain campaign at work this week, no one ever lost a US election by misunderestimating the intelligence of the “uncommitted” voter.  Witness Sarah Palin’s debut interview this week – she had no idea what the “Bush Doctrine” is (she is for it, though), and would not bat an eyelash about going to war with Russia over Georgia, which ought to be in NATO.  As Paul Krugman aptly put it in today’s NYT, the McCain-Palin people would not be simply “more Bush”, but worse, which is awe-inspiring to contemplate. 

But enough trivial gossip.  Today’s Amazing Bat Boy!  award for crack (as in the illicit stuff) investigative jouranalism goes to UPI, which used to print real news, like, I dunno, about World War II and stuff.  Today’s UPI reprints a total piece of hooey from the UK Telegraph, “Experts say Iran resumed nuke wepons plan.”  The UPI article is fronted by a picture of the back of two Iranian  ”clergymen” watching a rocket test, which has nothing to do with nuclear anything, but it’s an attention grabber, what?   So the article says:

Nuclear experts say they believe Iran has renewed work on developing nuclear weapons and removed uranium from its nuclear production facility. 

Nuclear experts responsible for monitoring Iran’s program said they’ve discovered that enough uranium, which if enriched could make up to six bombs, was no longer at the Isfahan nuclear production facility, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.  Spy satellites identified suspicious sites that Iran hasn’t declared to nuclear inspectors, the British newspaper said.

The Isfahan facility, where raw uranium is enriched so it can be used for either nuclear power or atomic weapons, is subject to International Atomic Energy Agency supervision. Iran, however, has given IAEA inspectors access only to the final stage of the production process, where the uranium in a gaseous state is stored.  Nuclear experts said they’ve determined that 50-60 tons of unprocessed uranium is missing, the newspaper said.

“The inspectors only have limited access at Isfahan and it looks as though Iranian officials have removed significant quantities … at a stage in the process that is not being monitored,” a nuclear official told the Telegraph. “If Iran’s nuclear intentions are peaceful, then why are they doing this?”

IAEA officials told The Daily Telegraph they suspect the missing uranium is being stored in installations spotted by U.S. spy satellites.

 

So, who in Sam Hill are these nuclear experts??  Perhaps my ten year old Boston Terrier, Bobo, can be an expert, too.  I’ll ask him about the missing uranium, which he probably buried with his toys in the back yard.  This piece is a classic bit of nothing, which in fine tradition ends with someone asking, “why are they doing this?” when it hasn’t been established that “they” have been doing anything at all.  

This is bad enough, but predicatably, the well-meaning but fuzzy-headed blogs that repeat every rumor of war as gospel start spreading this idiocy like a preschool virus.   Instead, this stuff needs to be exposed to real air and sunlight where it can shrivel up and die.

More sanctions

On the more prosaic side, the US imposed sanctions on Iran’s largest state-owned shipping firm which the Bush Administration accuses of shipping military-related cargo. 

The departments of State and Treasury announced the action against the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, also known as IRISL, and 18 related companies for providing logistical services to Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, which controls Iran’s ballistic missile research, development and production activities.

The action means that any bank accounts or other financial assets belonging to the company that are found in the United States are frozen. Americans also are forbidden from doing business with the company and its affiliates in Iran and at least nine other countries, including Britain, Belgium, China, Egypt, Italy, Germany, Malta, Singapore and South Korea.  …

The United States alleges that the Iranian shipping company facilitated shipments of “military-related cargo” destined for Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. The United States alleges the company falsified documents to conceal its cargo.

“Not only does IRISL facilitate the transport of cargo for U.N. designated proliferators, it also falsifies documents and uses deceptive schemes to shroud its involvement in illicit commerce,” Stuart Levey, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence said in a statement.

“IRISL’s actions are part of a broader pattern of deception and fabrication that Iran uses to advance its nuclear and missile program,” he said in a statement released as he was in Europe briefing U.S. allies there on the decision.

The statement offered no direct evidence for the company having transported nuclear related material, but said that in 2007 the firm had been caught shipping a chemical “destined for use in Iran’s missile program.” No other examples of malfeasance were listed.

And so the great game continues.  Note the small throat-clearing fact (in bold) that follows the slew of accusations, in which it is tacitly admitted that there is no evidence that this shipping firm actually shipped anything nuclear.   But, as one Republican consultant so aptly expressed at the convention, “this isn’t about issues – it’s about narrative.”

The difficulty with such sanctions is they are likely to remain regardless of who occupies the White House next year.  Easy to pass, very hard to get rid of, kind of like AOL.

Filed under: IAEA, Sanctions   |  1 Comment