Trust Mohamed: Iranian Leaders are Honest and Will Cooperate

Mohamed ElBaradei

I'd like to volunteer my services as a "backseat driver" as well.

From Reuters:

"The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog body on Friday rebuffed Western critics of a cooperation deal it struck with Iran as "back-seat drivers" and accused U.S. media of a campaign to discredit him.

Under the Aug. 21 deal, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency and Tehran agreed on a rough timetable for addressing lingering questions about Iran's nuclear activities.

IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei said his agency would scrutinise Iran's promise to cooperate by the end of the year and demand documents and other proof of its good faith.

If Iran reneged, it would jeopardise any grounds for future trust, he said.

This is plain stupidity. If Mohamed ElBaradei thinks that criticism of his deal is out of line, he can appeal to the security council for intervention. They might just be willing to attack civilians and governments of democratic countries.

The point is simple: We are now at an all or nothing juncture with Iran. We cannot allow a country who is openly sworn to destroying another country to possess nuclear power or weaponry. Our continued waffling only heightens the long-term conflict that is, barring a change of course, inevitable.

All of Saddam Hussein's promises and "compliance" ultimately led to a state of confusion so profound that nobody knew how many weapons he had developed, or what kind. Iran can drop nuclear buildup or be forced to drop it against their will. Those are the available options.

And nobody, aside from Mahmoud and a few of the more strident obfuscators, believes Mohamed can do anything one way or the other. So I could care less if the criticism bugs him. He's wrong and we should continue to behave as though he doesn't matter until the Iranians quit their illegal push.