Iran two years away from the bomb? I think we give them too little credit
I think I've said it before: Insomnia's a b*tch. But blogging always helps me go back to sleep ... at least for a little while.
OK, here's the skinny, Captain Ed picked this puppy up from ABC's The Blotter. It seems that the Iranians are about two years away from having the bomb:
Iran has more than tripled its ability to produce enriched uranium in the last three months, adding some 1,000 centrifuges which are used to separate radioactive particles from the raw material.
The development means Iran could have enough material for a nuclear bomb by 2009, sources familiar with the dramatic upgrade tell ABC News.
The sources say the unexpected expansion is taking place at Iran's nuclear enrichment plant outside the city of Natanz, in a hardened facility 70 feet underground.
A spokesperson for the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, declined to comment citing the "extreme sensitivity" of the situation with Iran.
Iran has already declared its above-ground operations at Natanz have some 320 centrifuges.
The addition of 1,000 new centrifuges, which are not yet operational, means Iran is expanding its enrichment program at a pace much faster than U.S. intelligence experts had predicted.
"If they continue at this pace, and they get the centrifuges to work and actually enrich uranium on a distinct basis," said David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security, "then you're looking at them having, potentially having enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon in 2009."
Previous predictions by U.S. intelligence had cited 2015 as the earliest date Iran could develop a weapon.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has publicly predicted his country would have 3,000 centrifuges installed by this May, but few in the West gave his claim much credence, until now.
Someone want to point me in the direction of the morons who are surprised by this so I can slap the snot out of them, please?
For the idiots that ARE surprised by this development, why are you surprised? We have putzed and piddled around with Iran ever sine their declaration that they could produce enriched uranium. We laughed it off and said "whoopty doo," and swore they'd never be able to reach the capacity they needed to produce a bomb. By fall of last year, Iran declared they had some 600+ centrifuges online, and promised the world they'd have 3000 online by this May. Again, the world laughed. Now that have 1000 online.
For crying out loud, folks, how long are we going to continue to play games. US Intelligence said they wouldn't have one until 2015, and now a spokesman says they'll have one by 2009. Um, excuseme, but if they get their 3000 online by May, they'd better readjust that prediction again.
Like the end of December, probably.
Look, we know what Ahmadinejad's about. The more "nuanced" members of society can click their tongues at our neandrathal-like thought process, but they were the ones laughing at Ahmadinejad's boasts about 3000 centrifuges online by May, and now they are the ones surprised by this news. Give me a neandrathal when it comes to dealing with an enemy, and less of the egg-heads unless those scholarly folk can set aside their slide-rules.
Iran wants the bomb. They want it very badly because they have a score to settle with the West and Israel. Anyone who doesn't buy Ahmadinejad's continued threats is a tin-foil hat wearing fever swamper that doesn't have clue one what's going on in the world. And it doesn't bring us much happiness to hear our own intel guys saying they're "surprised" by this development. WTF are you guys paid for? I almost feel like Bruce Willis from Armageddon:
"And this is the best that you c - that the government, the *U.S. government* could come up with? I mean, you're NASA for crying out loud..."
Yeah, we pay our guys in the government a decent amount of money (don't fool yourselves), and these guys are suddenly surprised that our enemy, unfettered by any sort of serious outside intervention, is making good on a promise they made to the world. Lord almighty, pass me the gun; I want to gnaw ont he end of the barrel.
Someone had better grow a set of nads soon to deal with the crazy mullahocracy in Teheran. If someone doesn't, our next surprise could be a mushroom cloud over London, over Tel Aviv, over Berlin, or even Washington, DC.
Publius II
OK, here's the skinny, Captain Ed picked this puppy up from ABC's The Blotter. It seems that the Iranians are about two years away from having the bomb:
Iran has more than tripled its ability to produce enriched uranium in the last three months, adding some 1,000 centrifuges which are used to separate radioactive particles from the raw material.
The development means Iran could have enough material for a nuclear bomb by 2009, sources familiar with the dramatic upgrade tell ABC News.
The sources say the unexpected expansion is taking place at Iran's nuclear enrichment plant outside the city of Natanz, in a hardened facility 70 feet underground.
A spokesperson for the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, declined to comment citing the "extreme sensitivity" of the situation with Iran.
Iran has already declared its above-ground operations at Natanz have some 320 centrifuges.
The addition of 1,000 new centrifuges, which are not yet operational, means Iran is expanding its enrichment program at a pace much faster than U.S. intelligence experts had predicted.
"If they continue at this pace, and they get the centrifuges to work and actually enrich uranium on a distinct basis," said David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security, "then you're looking at them having, potentially having enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon in 2009."
Previous predictions by U.S. intelligence had cited 2015 as the earliest date Iran could develop a weapon.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has publicly predicted his country would have 3,000 centrifuges installed by this May, but few in the West gave his claim much credence, until now.
Someone want to point me in the direction of the morons who are surprised by this so I can slap the snot out of them, please?
For the idiots that ARE surprised by this development, why are you surprised? We have putzed and piddled around with Iran ever sine their declaration that they could produce enriched uranium. We laughed it off and said "whoopty doo," and swore they'd never be able to reach the capacity they needed to produce a bomb. By fall of last year, Iran declared they had some 600+ centrifuges online, and promised the world they'd have 3000 online by this May. Again, the world laughed. Now that have 1000 online.
For crying out loud, folks, how long are we going to continue to play games. US Intelligence said they wouldn't have one until 2015, and now a spokesman says they'll have one by 2009. Um, excuseme, but if they get their 3000 online by May, they'd better readjust that prediction again.
Like the end of December, probably.
Look, we know what Ahmadinejad's about. The more "nuanced" members of society can click their tongues at our neandrathal-like thought process, but they were the ones laughing at Ahmadinejad's boasts about 3000 centrifuges online by May, and now they are the ones surprised by this news. Give me a neandrathal when it comes to dealing with an enemy, and less of the egg-heads unless those scholarly folk can set aside their slide-rules.
Iran wants the bomb. They want it very badly because they have a score to settle with the West and Israel. Anyone who doesn't buy Ahmadinejad's continued threats is a tin-foil hat wearing fever swamper that doesn't have clue one what's going on in the world. And it doesn't bring us much happiness to hear our own intel guys saying they're "surprised" by this development. WTF are you guys paid for? I almost feel like Bruce Willis from Armageddon:
"And this is the best that you c - that the government, the *U.S. government* could come up with? I mean, you're NASA for crying out loud..."
Yeah, we pay our guys in the government a decent amount of money (don't fool yourselves), and these guys are suddenly surprised that our enemy, unfettered by any sort of serious outside intervention, is making good on a promise they made to the world. Lord almighty, pass me the gun; I want to gnaw ont he end of the barrel.
Someone had better grow a set of nads soon to deal with the crazy mullahocracy in Teheran. If someone doesn't, our next surprise could be a mushroom cloud over London, over Tel Aviv, over Berlin, or even Washington, DC.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 11:37 PM
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