Yeah, he says that too. That's one of the things that makes the article so interesting. And right after saying that Iran has the moral right to nuclear weapons, he says "The problem is that acquisition of nuclear weapons by Tehran is unacceptable either for the region's countries, or for the great powers, primarily for Russia, which is located in the direct proximity of Iran, and within reach of potential Iranian nuclear delivery vehicles." The paragraph I had in mind earlier was, "In parallel, Western experts and politicians, joined recently by Russian researchers and specialists, have been leaning towards an almost unanimous opinion that Tehran's diplomatic efforts pursue only one goal - to gain time to build the bomb." I was assuming that he was identifying with the Russian position, but perhaps not. Lawrence -----Original Message----- From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Omar Kusturica Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2006 1:46 PM To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [lit-ideas] Iran: Last Chance but One http://www.centralchronicle.com/20060215/1502302.htm Here is an interesting article by the Board Chairman of the Russian Council on Foreign and Defense Policy. He thinks the Iranians are engaged in diplomatic stalling until they can get their bomb built. I don't see that the article actually says that. It says that: The Iranians have the moral right to wish to possess nuclear weapons. They live in a very dangerous region. In the south Iran borders on nuclear Pakistan, which may explode any time. In the west, it is flanked by unstable Iraq with American troops, and further on, there is nuclear Israel, which Tehran considers its worst enemy. (Although in many respects this is the problem of Tehran, which nurtures the image of a foe). The Iranians justifiably complain about the world community's largely unfair attitudes. They recall that during the Iran-Iraq war, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. helped Iraq, and kept shameless silence when Iraq used chemical weapons against Iran. But as true as these observations are, there is no evidence that Iran actually is seeking to create nuclear weapons, and the article does not present any. O.K. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html