Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Remember that scene in Blazing Saddles, where the new black Sheriff, played by Cleavon Little, finds himself about to be lynched, so, thinking quickly, he points his own gun at his own head and says, "Alright, nobody moves or the n----- get's it!" and he starts backing his way off the street and into safety...?
Shouts of horror from the crowd! "Stay back folks, I think he means it!"
That's the image I get reading this article about Iran's latest shenanigans in the nuclear run-around.
That or Darth Vader holding out his hand and saying, "Join ME!"
Telegraph: Hand over nuclear weapons and know-how, Iran tells Britain:
Iran said the EU-3 should support Iran's quest for "advanced (nuclear) technology, including those with dual use" - a reference to equipment that has both civilian and military applications.
The Europeans should "remove impediments" preventing Iran from having such technology, and stick to these commitments even if faced with "legal (or) political . . . limitations", an allusion to American pressure or even future international sanctions against Iran.
More astonishingly, Iran said the EU-3 should agree to meet Iran's requirements for conventional weapons and even "provide security assurances" against a nuclear attack on Iran.
This is a reference to Israel's nuclear arsenal, believed to include some 200 warheads and long-range missiles to deliver them.
The EU-3 are still debating over how to respond, but British officials said the Iranian letter was "extremely surprising, given the delicate state of process". Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, will have to decide whether to adopt a more confrontational policy...
If Iran doesn't cease these demands, and they go and develop nuclear weapons, why, the British shall be most put out!
Let's face it, they'll continue to do nothing. The Brits, God bless 'em, have blown their tough-guy wad on Iraq. Even if Blair wanted to, he's got no where to go on this. None of the Europeans do - and don't think for a second that there aren't a whole bunch of people on those diplomatic teams that aren't sympathetic to those demands.
