And why are we so afraid that Iran will go nuclear? Because we are afraid that they would lay a nuclear egg on Israel; but I don’t think so. The Muslims want to keep the “Holy Lands” free from contamination, so they will find a better way; e.g. the modern Cruise Missile that is GPS guided, hugs the Earth, is virtually undetectable by radar, and can be programmed to approach from any direction, thus disguising its launch point. The Zionists will never know what hit them.

Scanning the newspapers this morning I see that Paris conferees have pledged $7.4 Billion in aid to the Palestinian Authority, saying that an infusion of cash would help the peace process begun by the United States last month in Annapolis, Md.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/17/AR2007121700210.html

“But some delegates said that pumping money into the West Bank and Gaza Strip would not lead to long-term economic growth or political moderation as long as Israel continued expanding Jewish settlements and imposing a regime of checkpoints and closures that was strangling the Palestinian economy...

"Economic development is the best guarantee of lasting peace and long-term security for Israel," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the conference host...

But it was unclear how much of the $7.4 billion pledged Monday would go to Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, a radical Islamic group whose forces expelled the Palestinian Authority from the strip in June.

Events that followed the Nov. 27 Annapolis conference contributed to Palestinian resentment here and in the territories leading up to the Paris meeting. A week after both sides pledged to adhere to the U.S.-backed "road map" for peace -- a plan launched in 2003 that calls for Israel to stop settlement activities and for Palestinians to disarm militant groups and boost security -- Israel announced the construction of more than 300 homes on occupied land on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

"I'll be eager to implement all our commitments under the road map, and I expect the Israeli side to do the same, comprehensively, and without excuses from our side or theirs," Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told the delegates. "I expect them to stop all settlement activities, without exceptions."

There is a fat chance that the Zionists will let up on their expansionist settlements and strangle hold on the Palestinian economy. They will prefer to keep their West Bank settlements, hog 80% of the water supply to keep their lawns green and swimming pools full, while denying the Palestinian natives the right to drill wells; even though both the UN and USA agree that the Palestinians are being deprived the minimum amount of water to maintain health.

Some people cannot be lived with; they must be expelled once again from the Middle East.

What do posters think would be the reaction in these United States if some foreign power from the other side of the world INVADED two of the US' neighboring countries for dubious reasons?

Would you hesitate about arming yourself to the teeth with the ultimate deterrent?

why Forget Israel for a moment ..?

Mona,
U are way off the mark:u sound like a ploitician rather than an honest reporter.

1// MAD-mutual assured destruction-was very effective in keeping the peace for 50 years between the West and USSR and is keeping the peace between India and Pakistan-nuclear weapons are a proven deterent. Therefore Iran's nuclear wapons are badly needed to check the miltaristic racist jewish occupying theocracy-in fact it's israel's monopoly over nuclear weapons that is driving Iran and other Arab states to acquire neuclear weapons.
2// Iran is not occupying any one's land and has not aggressed upon any other state;having been attacked by Saddam who was supported by Regan/Rumsfeld and seeing IRaq being occupied by the US,Iran has no choice but to acquire nuclear weapons-the US would have never invaded Iraq if it had nuclear weapons-as the case with N Korea.
israel thru its US lobby incites the US to attack Iran-so it can mainatin monopoly over nuclear weapons and can therefore maintain its occupation of Arab and Palestinian lands-which is untanble in the medium and long term.
3// Arab governements who talk about Sunni/Shia,are the ones who supported the US invasion of Iraq and created this manufacured rift-there has never been such a rift in Iraqi history and those Shia Iraqi Arabs are the ones who fought Shia Iran for eight years!!!

4// The same Arab governemnts don't represent their people and are not elected-and therefore the Arab people see no existential enemy except israel:it occupied all of historic Arab Palestine and have tormenting Palestinians for sixty years and still occupying Syrian and Lebanese lands.

These so called "moderate" Arabs are recycling israeli/bush propaganda about Iran and screaming Shia..Shai as if israel has converted to sunni Islam.Hassan Naserallah is the most popular leader in the Arab world:his pictures were waved inside Al Azahar in july 2006-the hearland of Islamic orthodoxy under the nose of Hosni Mubarak who has and is taking Egypt backwards in every way possible...

israel should be disarmed from its formidable nuclear arsenal, otherwise Iran should acquire nuclear weapons as defense against israel's which is scarring the whole region to scramble towards nuclear weapons.

The Arab people feel nothing except brotherly and wram relations towrds Iran and have no enemy except israel-regardless of what the "moderate" Arab governements say. With all its shortcomings,Iran is a much better nation than the corrupt and depotic Shah-who was installed by the CIA in 1953 which eneded the democratically elected Dr.Mosadaq.

PS:am nitehr Shia nor Iranian!!!

Daniel Wargo,

The 'rest of [you] need[ing]... explanations from Muslims into the reasons as to why Shia and Sunni would risk annihilation to kill each other' is the periphery. The centre of the world is Eurasia, running from around the Greenwich longitude to the Sakhalin Islands, and it is in large part Muslim and non-Muslim peoples who can understand Islam and Muslims in a deeper sense of understanding than the Cartesian appraoch, maybe the Cartesian plus the Pascalian appraoches (that is the Cartesian appraoch augmented by the Antonio d'Amasio appraoch, if you know what I am talking about).

What not only myself but the whole of humanity want to know from the likes of you is: Why can the US and those who stupidly equate themselves with 'the free world' not abide by the clause of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty that requires them to dismantle THEIR nuclear arsenal.

Walter Cronkite is always denouncing them, and if anybody should know, HE should. See the websire below, among so many others:

www.wagingpeace.org

years ago, saturday was the day to check for the emails and sunday was the day to chat.

i shall have this two-days schedule again.

i here put a "i think i thank" message onto the internet, like a postit on the board.

Any State can manufacture a nuclear weapon with money and persistence because of the nature of Information . There are no realistic MILITARY means to prevent this sort of situation in any country, anywhere in the world . This is true in particular with Iran which is run by ideological extremists at war with Sunni Islam , and with the yearning of its own population to modernize.
What sort of assistance have the Muslim Nations requested in the past ? Pakistan received training and technological assistance to build its nuclear arsenal from China, India from Russia , and Israel managed to go nuclear utilizing money the US has faithfully given each year since 1947 for its survival . Assistance to modernize has been hijacked by nuclearization . Both those who received , and those who provided are guilty. In my opinion, the US is NOT the reason for instability in the Mideast, but is caught, with the rest of the world, attempting to stabilize national situations that are , mysteriously, immune to REAL, nonmilitary technological modernization . What the rest of us need are explanations from Muslims into the reasons as to why Shia and Sunni would risk annihilation to kill each other . Could the Divine REALLY wish for the destruction of His children no matter how we think each other misguided ?
This sort of discussion coupled with highlighting Nonproliferation as our 'Intervention ' in the Middle East is our ONLY defense against 'terrorism'. Everything else will only make existing conditions , as mysterious as they are to the rest of the world, worse, and more opaque. Thank You...

Andrew P.

You write " I don't much like the regime in Iran, but even I give them more credit than that."

Andrew, Andrew : Did you ever check your IQ? It is unlikely that it would be higher than 70.

Your arguments are all non-sequitur, if you know what I mean. So, I won't ask you whether you have ever taken any university course in bi-valued mathematical logic (I won't mention Fuzzy Logic --you would think it's a joke), because clearly, you would not get admitted to University.

Also, note that there is only one country that has ever used the nuclear weapon -- it is the one where, today, hundreds of thousands of families (and very soon millions) will be thrown out in the streets as a result of foreclosure and where, as reported two days ago in WAPO, foodbanks all over the country are empty. The US dollar (not Canadian -- we are spending billions to keep the value of our currency at near-par with our soutern neighbour's because, unlike your friends, you cannot choose your neighbour except in worse-than-apartheid Isreal)is increasing nearing the point where it is worth less than the paper it is printed on.

Mohamed MALLECK,

To say that Iran doesn't know what it wants to do with its nuclear technology is absurd. I don't much like the regime in Iran, but even I give them more credit than that. I am sure that they have discussed it often, and started their program with a goal.

On top of this, it seems obviously clear to me that at least part of their goal is nuclear weaponry. They have already developed a means to deliver any weapon (the Shahab missiles). THey have also decided to use a heavy-water reactor, when a light-water reactor (which doesn't create weapons grade material) could provide the nuclear power necessary. They've also been keen on keeping inspectors away from sensitive areas, another tell-tale sign of doing something illegal. As for the NIE report, well most people don't even realize that what it talks about is not even the hardest part of building a nuke. The enrichment of uranium is the hardest part, and they continue it to this day (at a weapons-grade level).

And for nukes in general, do you honestly believe that every country has a right to a weapon which has that level of death and destruction. To this day 99% of Belarus is contaminated from Chernobyl, and that was an accident. If Iran gets one, others will as well. Inevitably, if more people have it, the more likely it is to be used (basic principle of probability). Iran has no one to defend itself from with these nuclear weapons. The only reason aggressive words have been used against Iran is BECAUSE of its nuclear weapons, not in spite of it, and its biggest threat to the west (Saddam Hussein)has been removed from power.

Of course other countries are going to try and stop Iran from building nukes, and so should we. The consequences are far worse than any benefit, and the rationality of arming a nation hostile to much of the world seems, to put it frankly, stupid.

this is Georgeousness.

and also it is in the city i had been between 1973 and 1977. and also those in another city in east of anatolia with this mineral immigrate to here.

husbands of daughters of my aunt are from another city with this mineral in the west of anatolia.

my mother had lived in another city with this mineral and husband of another aunt was from this city employed as head of stock department of this mineral company.

and now it gives calmness, peace, silence of head, fruits greenery and forestry, healing fresh breath, awakeness in spirit, being on air, ease of communication, radioactively diseased people may heal here, disease in magnetic flux of a human may heal here, it activates Messenger RNA, heals genetics, it provides ease of mind,

sexuality calms down in relations, fatherhood is within kindness and compassion, women are free,

mona, it is great to read you're texts.
well as we all know iran has an agenda in the middle east which goes back to the early days or Persian impairs.
doesn't matter who is in power in Iran the Persian nationalistic concept can be Islamic or democratic.
i think what matters is why the people of the ME have all those leaders on power...starting from mobarak to najad. I'm not assuming that Tony Blair George bush are any better, but they are within a democratic state ...
....have lovely holidays..happy eid..Christmas..and all other non important capitalist religion holly.... days
ad

"bush" is pronounced as Head in this language

for the Sake of Your Head Mr President,
commence the union of languages and spirituality.

i have been for 9 years on a mineral, i did all with this mineral. it has been employed for agriculture. i have for agreement of cultures.

this is under the Mountain of Jupiter and it is with Saturn of agriculture.

thank you for your well written article

So finally the Arab/Israeli peace-talks can progress. MAD is now on the altar, mutually assured destruction brings a level playing field. And the angel Gabriel, common to east and west, returned to his perch.

'Lord God, I have done as you asked and delivered your word, but ...'

Stop angel. Gabriel, my messeger, deliver the word, but don't question as to who has heard and who has not.

"Go back to the 1967 place,
the settlements must be abandoned
there is 1 heaven
and a 1 state solution.

An angel came back to me, 'they do not believe your word.'
Did you see Lucifer on your quest?

'Yes Lord, he was MAD.'

Go now Gabriel to your perch."

Ask any Arab on the streets of Riyadh, and they will tell you they already have the bomb - it is in the custody of their minion, Musharraf. Mona should know that.

Let me say it up front, Mona. I am Sunni, I lived the Iranian Revolution in the flesh during the period August 1978 to August 1979, in the first five months of which I was unknowingly 'brushing shoulders', every single day, with a CIA agent who had been implicated, possibly only remotely, with the overthrow of Salvador Allende half a decade earlier (all of which I learnt from a very wel-placed American girl after the CIA agent was urgently evacuated around end-December/early- January 1979, when the Shah fled his country. I performed Hadj in 1986 and heard the 'Khutba' denouncing Iran as anti-Muslim (I'll be charitable and say maybe not in those exact terms but certainly that was the intent -- my wife, who is currently performing Hadj with my second son still has a transcript of that "Khutba'). During my 1986 Hadj, I saw the Iranian pilgrims/war casualties of the abominable eight-year, 2-million-victim Iran/Iraq war that was so intensely sold to the Arabs by American interests as an imperative for their survival.

Forgive me for telling you bluntly that I am not surprised that you are an award-winning sybdicated columnist -- Frederick De Klerk also won the Nobel Peace prize! But, no -- your award was far more well-deserved than De Klerk's Nobel prize, considering that you have the courage to take on unjustified Arab paranoia about Iranian/Shi'ite assertion of their self-worth. What I reproach you is that, FOR ALL THE AWARD-WINNING SYNDICATED COLUMNIST MERIT THAT YOU HAVE, you still cannot interpret correctly to the world what Iran expects to achieve by taking a hard line against US unilateral imposition of extra-NPT conditions (like Israel's extra-judicial killings!) on its nuclear enrichment activities. Iran is not doing anything illegal. It does not itself know whether it might later want to have nuclear weapons, in the same way that my youngest son who has accompanied my wife to Mecca does not know whether he might want to join Harvard MBA next September or in September 2009. First, he will have to see if he does get admission, which is likely (but not certain!) given his May 2007 graduation with High Distinction from University of Toronto in Actuarial Science; then whether he might want to work longer and get his employer to finance his MBA rather than spend his Gynaecologist mother's hard-earned funds (his current salary is not high enough to meet all costs, just like Iran's GDP, as you rightly point out is low compared to the small Gulf Kingdoms'. But I assure you that my son could have made a bundle if he had taken my advice to speculate agsint the US dollar, with the backing of his mother's income and my know-how and his -- except that, he lacks the experience of war scars and maimed limbs that I saw on the Iranain pilgrims of 1986 and I myself have, and therefore has not developed the realism to appreciate the necessity of greed that allows you not to spurn 'easy money'.

I think that I have made myself clear : it is Iran's right to pursue the activities it is pursuing. The question of a nuclear-armed Iran does not arise now and mostly-Sunni Arabs (as well as Sunni Pakistanis!) are inviting trouble by entertaining third-party-inflamed fears about Iranian intentions of domination. What Iranains want is self-respect and dignity gained through the assertion of their legitimate rights and the respect of these rights foremost by their fellow-Muslims and then by the rest of the world.

I am myself a non-Iranain, non-Pakistani, Sunni Muslim who resents the occasional stance of Sunni Arabs that they are somehow THE real Muslims and others are usurpers. For several Fridays now, I have not been going to the mosque, preferring to read at home even my Friday prayers (Zohr prayers instead of the Jumm'a prayers that I would normally read communally in the mosque).

I had decided to go to Mosque to day and reading your piece, I had almost been dissuaded by you not to go to mosque. But, having offloaded the heaviness that I had on my heart, I shall go, in less than an hour's time.

sakit: Mars
sakit: alit

jupiter: erendiz
saturn : sekendiz

alit: have landed onto
alit: alight

words caused apart words have united alight
words commenced a war words dropped a fight
cry in my lungs are of the years of longing
in every way i can reach out is for hugging

daily telegraph.

Nuke is more of deterrence than a weapon.

Nuclear war head for all the vulnerable countries is more of a deterrent than a weapon itself. Nuke is taken as a sure guarantee of security and to maintain a peace with the neighbouring states as well as in the region. For instance Israel, whose neighbours are with out any such weapon but Israel, is armed to its teeth including its nuclear war heads. US pay some 8 billions dollars for the Israel security and her rattling as nuke laden, invincible force in the Middle East. Israel Nuclear programme at Dimona nuclear proliferation plant in the Negev Desert, which was built in 1952 with the help of France, has since developed (as per Israel production rate estimates) some 200 nuclear war heads along with the delivery system vehicles, Jericho-1 and Jericho-2 missiles. Dimona is served by a near by military air base at Niveta AB and Uranium geochemistry and fission-track mapping of phosphorites facilities at Zefa field, Zefa. Although US Defence Intelligence estimate is at 65 to 80 war heads but these war heads primarily serve as deterrence. For the up keep of this deterrence, any neighbouring state in Middle East including Iran are being shun very vehemently to attain any such capability and off balance the deterrence.

Why after all, denial of knowledge and restriction of any access to advance technologies to the Arab world in general and suppression of Muslim youth in particular by way of their subjugation and a schematic inhalation (i.e. labelling them terrorists/extremist etc) seem to be the order of the day. On the other hand US lead forces are desperately consolidating their harbouring haven (mega bases in green zone)in Iraq at all costs. They are very anxious to mark it a sure success to attain an impetus for further expansions and advances in other enclaves like Iran and beyond; (cost of this war theatre runs in hundreds of billion of dollars, being spent yearly plus armed forces fatality now running in thousands).

Pakistan may be the ultimate target of US lead forces to occupy and quell the potential of nuclear resistance offered by Pakistan and (later on) also form a formidable defence line there to check the advances of future adversaries like Russia, China and India toward Middle East.

While US is desperately trying to consolidate its positions in Middle East and trying to secure its foot prints in energy rich Central Asia; but to act as master of future in the area; US need to have very cool thinking.

But Questions arise:-
* Do we still believe living a colonial era of subjugation?
* Do we really believe that research in technology and acquiring of knowledge can be denied and restricted in this ‘21st century, to any one or…especially to the awakened youth in Muslim world, sitting on the mountains of oil wealth and with the world critical economic resources at their disposal?

Knowledge or words of wisdom are bestowed to mankind by the creator…our God. It travels on the wings of winds like a musky fragrance to the people who strive for it… No one has ever been able to harness this flight and the winds?

-----------------------------
Love for all, Hatred for none

what do you want Mr George Williams Bush, just say to me, what do you want?

is it Mars you want to land on to, is it SAKIT ALIT, is it DUALITY END, is it ENLIGHTENMENT BEGIN?

is it backgammon you love to play? is it the Black Flags of the Stand Up? do you know the HTML of the Holy Scriptures?

after the Big Brother Jupiter on the Orbit around the Sun?

Mr George Williams Bush,

where is it, Bern of ConCern, Jerusalem, New York, Himalaya? where is it? Istanbul for the signs of Stand Up in Holy Scriptures?

Internet is based on a programmer in CERN who developed HTML, Tim Berner's Lee.

the whole world?

so every one on Earth shall have the language too. what a big surprise of Big Son!

the last message in your shift Ms Eltahawy, in "Wishing Tone Post".

i can talk about Chess and Elements of Queen and King, in "We Shining Town", is it Baghdat?

i have not yet talked about spiritual economics of UK and USA, cattle and four wheels. Peace in Levant, peace in UKUSA. Vladimir Putin is in our Mobile Phones and Health already.

"who has come shall come many times, who has come had come many times", members of Romanov Family shall too.

just one thousand votes with a prayer of a man, which took Mr Bush ahead of Al Gore, to Presidency, (Al Gore to another Shift) was similar to just one thousand messages with a prayer of a man, which took Algorithm and Logarithm to its Origin, Astronomy with Progress and Peace in Space Labority and Navy.

highly probably, Al Gore would have 11M USD in case he were President, a great compensation and deal for peace.

and Al Gore, George Bush and Levent Alkan gave a result, as far as i see. or do i have an ocular vision? who has binocular? Vladimir Putin?

Mr Bush, Bis Piece please, if you can play for one more term, union with Canada included, and later with Mexica.

before 1980, Turkish Army Troops enter the houses and looks for books of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, shortly "V. Lenin". a soldier asks his commander about a book in the shelf of a library about Lenin Fifth!

in the name of St Francis of the Turkey, St Nicholas of the Deer to Render, Nasreddin with the Turkey, Somuncu Baba of the Bread, Noah and Enoch, masters of navy and water, particularly Enoch for source of water is the ice on the mountains and poles, with MAry John and Seven Sleepers for the Corpus Christus and Cross, to Ahmet for Milk in Thymuse, to Jesus for Honey in Thymuse.

Levent Alkan on Google is of course the economist, he is in Istanbul working in Stock Exchange.

Levent Alkan on Yahoo is me on Classics Network, i am in Bursa studying on Literagenetics.

"bursa" in Medical Science is the liquid for the bones to easily move."borsa" is the Stock Exchange,

there are a few more Levent Alkan, a doctor, a teacher and a computer expert.

if there is no text found, then view the printable version. sometimes death of horses is because of the food of donkeys.

in an article from Japan, for carbondioxide, one kg of meat on your tabe for dinner is equal to one hour of a car, of 250 kms, of 3 hours drive. is it scientific? the truth is that economy of UK is based on Meat and economy of USA is based on cars.

Hey Mona,

“An Egyptian journalist asked me in Cairo in November whether Egypt should have a nuclear program. I told him all I could think of was Chernobyl. Bird Flu has spread throughout Egypt like that proverbial wildfire and we’re tragically familiar with unnecessary train accidents and various other disasters resulting from our government’s negligence. Who can trust them with nuclear anything?”

What do you think the nations of the Middle East will do for energy when the oil well runs dry? When do you think it will run dry: 50 years, 100 years...?

"More than half of the 'Islamic Republic Of Iran' is occupied land -- land that Shah Nadar stole from the Azeris and the Kurds three hundred years ago"

LOL! hilarious (oh fiction, what would we do without you).

To Sama Adnan, You make excellent points. Much of which can not be refuted.

Shams was truly great and the city of Damascus has history richer than any other in the world.

Mesopotamia/Babylon, Assyrians, Carthage, Moores and others had their period of greatness. But those civilizations, cultures, and to some extent the races themselves were wiped out.

Not so with Persia and Egypt. With Iran it is rather obvious that they relish their history and culture just as much, if not more than their Islamic religion. With Egypt, I'm not so sure, but it is said that all Egyptian, even Gamal Nasser considered Egypt the natural leader of all Arab states due in large part to hits history and culture.

With Iran, its greatness was always that it was an inclusive society. Look at Cyrus and the Achaemenids. Read about their culture and see the relics in Persopolis. They wiped out Slavery, which really hadn't been done before or since (till the modern times).

I was merely paraphrasing something a revered Arab Egyptian writer had said.

To Mr. Break The Empire -- Of Nadar Shah!,

Hate to break it to you sport, but that is highly unlikely. But it doesn't stop you from your prayer and longing.

Quick education for you: The last great Persian Dynasty were the Safavids. Do you know where they were from? Azerbaijan.

Perhaps the most revered persian hero is Babak Khoram-din. Do you know where he is from? Azerbaijan.

Do you know that the Azerbaijanis in Iran are the second largest ethnic group in Iran, yet disproportionately contol the business community? They are also very heavily represented in academics, athletics, and of course politics.

You can't talk to anyone in Iran who isn't partly Azerbaijani or Kurdish. Do you know why? Because they all see themselves as Iranian first.

Unlike a place called Arabia, where tribes fought and the winner decided to name the country after the family name.

Your comments prove my point exactly. Iran has as much to fear, perhaps even more so from the Arabs, not Israel.

well, first of all it is not possible to forget israel and to talk about balance in midle east.every country in midle east or not has somewhat role in this region and has to be in puzzle when we think about midle east.how i can't say that let's say u.s is not in midle east and not supporting israel that it does without any condition even though israel has nuclear weapons, than there is no any problem in the midle east.saying that i am against israel having nuclear weapon doesn't work at all after it has had, and it is right of all countries to have nuclear weapon which are in range of israel threat.what makes u.s partner againts iran?to screw up iraq because of false intelligence repor?to back israel without any condition against an arap nation palestine that has been genocided?to have double standart in the midle east in favor of israel?so on and so forth.iran must have nuclear weapon that it may need it in case.i don't say shooting it,i mean use it as balance, nuclear enrgy.if you have it then i should have it.beside u.s and israel have worse history than tahran does in term of weapons.so u.s and israel are the last countries to urge other countries not to have nuclear weapons.japon japon

thank you for this opportunity to speak.

the next port for unity shall be with Sirius and Clear Blue Sky, Ms Eltahawy.

if "source of dynasties" is in North of Iraq and West of Iran where Noah is known with, then Iran and Iraq are familiarly invited to be in peace to be on board of Earth, ties of family strong and fastened (with speed of god), interfamily relations in peace.

the ice on the north pole dated to 2040 to have completely melted has been estimated to be 2012, level of sea did not rise, no one moved to higher lands

but all rised in consciousness.

in Middle East were dinosours
in Middle East was a meteor
in Middle East is oil of dinosours smashed
ice melted with heat of dinosour oil burnt

oil of dinosours finished. ice melted.

more than these are far beyond my process at the moment. i have eaten much of a chicken.

programme spacelaboratory

function (A NUCLEAR, ANU CLEAR)

begin

if "ANU" is "WE" in Hebrew then
if "ANU" is "god of sky heaven" in Summerian then
if "ANU" is "AHURA MAZDA" in zoroastorianism then

Iran is invited to be in compliance for the Heaven to be Apparent on Earth where all are clear and no more weep on.

end if
end if
end if

end function

solution = function (a nuclear, anu clear)
print solution

end programme

c:> exe spacelaboratory
c:> Iran is invited to be together in peace and summerians to be clear.

The race for nuclear power has started from the nuclear programme of isreal not the Iran.Arab has fought wars with israel not with Iran.Arb has enemity with israel and have dispute in palestine with Israel not with iran.other hand your statement neglect the presence of calendestine nuclear programme of israel.

While it’s every sovereign country’s full right to pursue energy generation policies of their own, they should also be cognisant of their own abilities before embarking on such a fraught road as that of nuclear power.

For one, this region (the Middle East) is hardly the shining example of an educational systems which could produce nuclear scientists. The ones that we do have are incredibly self-motivated persons whom we are all proud of, arriving at their level of knowledge in spite of the detrimental entrenched educational policies which lack the promotion of critical thinking amongst many other failings and which have enshrined the unwritten policy of the “three Rs” in our education: Read, Remember and Regurgitate.

Educational reform; therefore, is just one area which is much more direly needed to the future of our communities than nuclear programs (civil or military) which are almost guaranteed to make the unfortunate Chernobyl accident as nothing more than a minor building fire.

We, yet again, continue to blunder along the road driven by our own inflated egos rather than common sense.

So Joe, tell me what is your gripe with Iran going nuclear?

Wow - I am always amazed at the nonsense in these posts... We get it, we get it... You hate Israel so much that you want Iran to have atomic weapons too. Perhaps you hope they will continue to threaten Israel and send more than just Hezzies.

When this Lady writes that the Arab states are not so keen on this - which is actually correct and factual - all you can do is whine that Israel is somehow to blame.

News flash... Israel has had atomic capacity for years. Whining about it has only become en-vogue sine the Irani program started...

Mona Eltahawy is a journalist that sold her soul to the Zionist money, just like many other so called journalists.

Andrew:

Yes, but if Mona thinks that because there is a possibility of a major accident happening that this should preclude Egypt from having a nuclear program because (is she implying) that Egypt can't manage a nuclear program safely because Russia could not? Does that mean Russia shouldn't have a nuclear program...if so,thinking back to Three Mile Island, that means that the U.S. shouldn't either, because obviously the U.S. couldn't handle the safety requirements either.

Venture to say, this discussion is madness. Nuclear technology, benefits despite the down side, is a mushroom cloud. Mutually assured destruction, MAD, was the mantra of 3 generations, east and west, Hot and Cold.

Israel has nuclear capability.
Israel has built a wall in Palestine.
Israel has increased settlements.

The angel Gabriel can be traced to the old testament. The scripture is common to east/west, as is the angel. This holy land, has seen war, slavery, what now son's of Abraham?

To Robert
Just because countries did not exist in their present form does not mean that their respective societies and civilizations did not contribute significantly to world culture and science. Yes, Iraq did not exist 100 years ago but the region of Mesopotamia (The land between two rivers) has been the site of the world's first cities, one of four parts of the world where writing was invented and long a seat of Arab and Islamic civilizations.

Same with Syria, the land of Sham, whose stories predate the Bible and whose capital, Damascus, is the oldest inhabited city on Earth. The Pheonicians of Lebanon whose Semitic alphabet (very close to the modern Arabic one) was the only instance in history where a phonetic alphabet was developed from scratch. The Philistines whose culture and civilization were mentioned in the Old Testament where fought by the Jews crossing the Sinai from Egypt. This historical continuity of Arab countries also holds true for Lybia (Carthage), Morocco and Algeria (the Moores) and the Arabian Peninsula (Hijaz of Saudi Arabia, the Yemenites and the Omani Sultunate that spanned the Indian Ocean).

Claiming that Iraq, Syria, or Algeria and the UAE didn't exist 100 years ago because those places had different names is like saying that Italy didn't exist until 1870 when the many Italian states where unified into modern Italy or that Germany didn't exist until 1870 when the unification of tens of tiny German states led to the creation of Germany. Yes, Italy is less than 150 years old but Italian civilization dates back to the Romans and Greeks.

An armed society is a peaceful society?

No weapon ever - rusted for lack of use?

What will Egypt do when Iran develops the bomb?

Let's see, Pakistan - not Arab.
Iran - as you said - Persian.
Turkey? Saudi Arabia?

To Andrew, I was paraphrasing what a famous and acclaimed egyptian scholar had famously written. That was straight from an Arab's mouth who understands history, civilization, relevance.

You make excellent points with Syria, the Turks, even perhaps Yemen. A quick point that what is now Syria wasn't Syria over 80 years ago. Iraq didn't exist. Saudi Arabia didn't exist. Jordan was and is a barren land ruled by a family that also lays a rightful claim to Mecca and Medina and have no history in the 25-Year British Mandate TransJordan. Truth be told, Jordan is a province of Palestine.

Iran and Egypt are the only 2 countries in the middle east that have by and large kept their national integrity, some borders, and in-tact civilization for thousands of years. The arab conquerors were never able to quite successfully do away with these in Iran and Egypt. With the other countries, it was much easier as no national identity existed.

But please note that my comments were directed primarily at these "Gulf Nations" who take exception by the rightful name of the body of water called PERSIAN GULF. I have many educated Arab friends from Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria who say the same thing about the Gulf States. They call them "bedouins" who lack any level of history and culture, yet feel they are above the other arab states. They bitterly remember their treatment in particular in Kuwait after the first gulf war.

Lastly, Similar to how Arab students in many countries do not see the name ISRAEL on top of the land that the Israelis occupy, many arabs also do not show Persian Gulf as "Persian", but "Arabian Gulf".

They also show roughly one-third of Iran as rightfully theirs, along with a good percentage of southern Turkey. When you see and hear things like this, then you understand why Persians, Turks, and Yes Israelis are scared of Pan-Arabism.

Dear Mona,

Possession of "Nuclear Weapons" does not help Iran in its SUPPOSED hegemonic intentions in the region Can Iran really bully Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, UAE with nuclear weapons? Not unless you subscribe to the conventional wisdom that is being shoved our throats by the Media. let us ponder:

If anything, having nuclear weapons will weaken any Iranian move because it will bring about an intense protective stance from all the world powers. If Iran were to threaten "ANYBODY" with atomic bombs, "EVERYBODY" would turn against them. Period.

Iran in possession of a "PEACEFUL NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY" and with a prospering economy and happy populous is a threat to the US hegemonic intentions in the Middle East (and this has very little to do with Israel, in case you wondered)

US allies in the middle East mostly include dictatorship that have sold their souls to the devil. The Shia/sunni animosity is nothing but a devide and conquer strategy advocated by the British masters. Please do not perpetuate this propaganda

Robert,

There are many more than just Iran and Egypt as the two states of importance. Syria and its people have been extremely important going back to the Rashidun Caliphs. Turks have been somewhat important as well (see: Ottoman empire). The reason most states did not develop is that they were conquered, and not just by the Europeans (the Arabs and Turks were just as guilty before). Saudi Arabia has always been made up of tribes and it IS a legitimate nation, whether its legitimately run by a king or not is your choice. So is Yemen (Yemenis have been important for a very long time in Southern Arabia). And of course lets not forget everyone's favorite cause, Palestine (although certainly doesn't go as far back as the other nations).

As for people posting about Israel...well it just wouldn't be a Washington Post Middle East section without Israel bashing. The point of the article is how other Middle Eastern nations are reacting to an Iranian program, and almost no one here has commented on that. Israel has nukes, they're going to (too late to stop them), and they haven't threatened to use them on anybody as an offensive weapon, so the threat does not come from them.

As for the other nations, well they have a right to fret about Iran having nukes. I don't believe its a good idea for any of them to have nukes (I believe deeply in non-proliferation) because more fingers on the trigger creates a better chance of someone pulling it. Why would the US want any of these countries to have nukes as well? There's simply no point to promote them having nuclear weapons, the argument that "its ok cuz Israel does it" is foolhardy, especially since we shouldn't want them to copy Israel, and Israel is not Saudi Arabia's enemy. We should promote letting no one else getting nukes, otherwise the chance of seeing a bomb go off in Riyadh or Baghdad or Cairo or Tel Aviv goes up to the point of it being a scary reality.

i agree with Denis

everyone in the middle east has the right to acquire nuclear technology, if israel insist on having them. isreal's response ..weel i only have nuclear warheads for defensive reasons...does not and should not fly by its neighbors.

Mona, you wrote: "Let me state clearly here that I’m against all nuclear weapons, including Israel’s."

I know it's a nit, Mona, but I suppose you meant to write: "Let me state clearly here that I’m against all nuclear weapons, including Israel’s and the US's." Did you not?...

Thanks for advocating world disarmament, Mona.

Octbr29, Three Mile Island was nothing compared to Chernobyl.

Mona, you make very valid points. But one small, but VERY TRUE comment within you post really summarizes everything from an Iranian stand point: That these small gulf arab countries take exception to the official name of PERSIAN GULF.

Whether you are dealing with the mullahs, the secular democrats, or the monarchists, they all agree that these small artifical kingdoms created by the Brits and propped up by the US and Britain are nothing more than surrogates of the those two nations. There was no UAE or Qatar or Bahrain, or Saudi Arabia for that matter 1000 years ago, or even 100 years ago.

Yet these bedouins now rule these lands and oppress their populations, many of whom are Shi'ites and/or persian descent, and now lay claim to regions that rightfully belonged to Persia dating back to 2,500 years.

It was one of your acclaimed writers who many years ago said that in the middle east, there are only two countries that truly matter, that have national integrity with borders and civilizations that has spanned thousands of years. Those two are Egypt and Persia.

No discussion about nuclear proliferation in the Mid East makes ANY sense unless it includes Israel's dangerous and destabilizing deployment of several hundred nuclear weapons. I know, they'd reassure their neighbors thet they're only defensive.

Easy for them to say.

Not sure if you saw the recent news, but Israel has become the leading arms exporter in the world behind Britain and they've sold U.S. military technology illegally, so maybe we shouldn't completely 'forget' them for now. Although you may be a 'nuclear pessimist' there is still the issue of being part of the 'nuclear club' and what it means to be a player in world politics. You mention that maybe Egypt shouldn't have nuclear capability because it brings Chernobyl to mind. What about Three Mile Island?

Here are some facts to consider:

1. Ahmadinejad was invited by the GCC (actually, PGCC) annual summit as a guest of honour. The last one was Chirac some 7 years ago.

2. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia walked in the meeting hand in hand with all others walking in behind them. Is that a signal? not to mention that King Abdollah has invited Ahmadinejad as his special guest for this year's Hajj, and Ahmadinejad has accepted. A poke in the eye for the Jordanian king and the Egyptian king/president?

3. Two weeks ago, an Iranian-Egyptian joint venture car factory started producing a special model of Peugeot-- the model name is Pars and Persia. Hardly a matter of state concern in Egypt, when Iranian ministers met with their Egyptian counte