The Super Tuesday Thread

[Phendrana]

Kasz216 said:

Phendrana said:

 

I agree with you. Iran shouldn't be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. However, going to war should not be the only option already. The latest intelligence report says Iran halted its nuclear weapons program back in 2003 and hasn't restarted it since. It also says they won't even be technically capable of creating a single weapon until 2013, possibly not even until 2015+. The attitude that Iran must be stopped now using military force is nothing more than the same war mongering and kneejerk reactions that got us into Iraq. There may very well come a time when it's absolutely necessary, but that time is far from now.

The intelligence report: http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/20071203_release.pdf

EDIT: Damn, you guys are fast lol

No. It says they won't be able to produce enough Plutonium by 2015. Which says nothing about the Uranium enrichment that goes on everyday that could be switched from civilian use to weapons use at any time.

The report you directed to says they could produce enough Uranium by as early as 2009 if things go there way. When your president you have to plan for everything. Even things that are "unlikely".

It doesn't say they won't techncally be able to create a weapon until 2013, it says they think Iran will likely run into problems that will slow down their uranium enrichment.

All this report really says, is that you've got to watch Iran closely. Me, i hope negotiations start back up and the EU bribes them to let Russia do all their uranium enrichment. Since it's feaseable however for them to have enough uranium to make a bomb well pretty much during the entire presidential term of the next president it seems like a good idea to be prepaired. This isn't even counting any uranium that might of been missed or purchased elsewhere.

No, it doesn't. It mentions Plutonium once at the very end, which coincidentally also won't be ready until 2015. What it talks about throughout the entire report is HEU (Highly Enriched Uranium). HEU is enriched to a FAR greater extent than the reactor grade uranium used for nuclear power. They can't just decide one day to place uranium from a nuclear reactor into a missle. Doesn't work like that.

It also says it's "very unlikely" they'll be able to produce enough HEU for a weapon by 2009. Their estimated timeframe is 2010-2015, with 2013 being the most reasonable estimate based on Iran's current technology and progress.

And like I said, a plan of action is one thing, carrying out that plan before it's necessary is something else entirely.