...Mohamed ElBaradei and the IAEA. It's well-deserved - they have struggled tirelessly against nuclear proliferation, while respecting the right of countries to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. But it's also a tremendous slap in the face for George W Bush. In case anyone needs reminding, this is the organisation that told the world Bush's invasion of Iraq was based on a lie; that has resisted America's paranoia about Iran's nuclear ambitions in favour of waiting for hard evidence; and the man that the US tried to remove from office because he wouldn't toe the American line and be an obedient puppet. Giving them the peace prize is a vindication of their integrity and reality-based approach, and of the principle of inspections over bombs.
I hope this emboldens them to challenge Israel.
ReplyDeleteWould this be the same man / organisation who declared North Korea to be compliant just months before they announced the development of an A-Bomb and whose position on terrorists getting nukes is "We have to cross our fingers that nothing will happen"?
ReplyDeleteThe fact that one of the primary considerations for awarding the prize was to score points against GWB just shows what a joke it has become.
And FYI, Iran's nuclear ambitions are no case of "American paranoia". You can check out Mohamed's own reports and quotes from that well known neocon lackey Gerhard Schroeder to see that. He will have earned his prize if he can stop Iran developing nukes but given his lack of successs so far I don't see it happening.
Oh god please tell me you didn't just say "reality based".
ReplyDeletehttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1816612,00.html
ReplyDelete> to challenge Israel.
ReplyDeleteand do what to them?
From http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2005/10/el_baradei_nobel_peace_prize_1.html
ReplyDelete"After 6 months on the job, in May of 1998, both India and Pakistan conduct nuclear tests, 11 in all, and declare themselves nuclear powers. In February of this year, North Korea declared itself a nuclear power. And, in August, Iran's new president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced at the United Nations General Assembly that his country has an "inalienable right" to complete the nuclear fuel cycle. (Proliferation expert Henry Sokolski has an analysis of this "right" claim here.) And, of course, the International Atomic Energy Agency failed to deter or discover the proliferation activities of the A.Q. Khan network during El Baradei's tenure.
If this is success, I'd hate to see what failure looks like."
>> to challenge Israel.
ReplyDelete>and do what to them?
Apply political pressure on them to stop being hypocritcal fuckwits and sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and then get some inspectors in their and disarm them.
They can sign the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention while they're at it too.