Bloomburg news is reporting that the US claims Iran could have nukes within 16 days.
Iran, which is defying United Nations Security Council demands to cease its nuclear program, may be capable of making a nuclear bomb within 16 days if it goes ahead with plans to install thousands of centrifuges at its Natanz plant, a U.S. State Department official said.
``Natanz was constructed to house 50,000 centrifuges,'' Stephen Rademaker, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation, told reporters today in Moscow. ``Using those 50,000 centrifuges they could produce enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon in 16 days.''
So what does this mean?
flip on over
The hell if I know. I, like many others, are in a state of numbness -- many have said this is dejevu. Others say they feel like they are watching two children at a rollerink collide and can't barely get out a yelp, let alone a scream of warning.
Billmon, Digby, and many others here at DKos have laid out a number of cogent and sober assessments of what it would mean on a broad scale and how it may play out for different audiences. Here I am asking a question and it may seem facetious, but it's not: so what do we do?
For about 5 years I have been talking about moving out of country. At first it was for the experience and the opportunities it would afford my family. In the last two years it has been more of an escape. A chance to abscond to a place where reality and rationality rule. My wife has always been reluctant, and for good reasons. Last night I half-jokingly asked her "what if we attack Iran, then do you think moving to Toronto would be possible?"
My wife was visibly upset. She called me an alarmist. Said that the kids have safety and security here. Said that the "chicken little" routine is getting old.
I agree.
I was an alarmist concerning the first and second gulf wars. As a matter of fact, I was such an alarmist on Junior's war that I made our family leave our church because the pastor was too afraid to condemn it. I was an alarmist over guatanamo bay and the possible ramifications on us as Americans. I was an alarmist concerning the Patriot Act. I was even an alarmist on the use of propaganda on US citizens. This chicken little routine is getting old.
And I am afraid. In the last election I volunteered for moveon. My wife did not want me to because she thought some "whackjob" would do something. I was armed with my digital camera and clipboard and told her I would be fine. Unfortunately she was right and I was accosted by a whackjob. I took pictures, he took pictures, and a lot of verbiage was thrown about -- but it left an impression on my wife. Subsequently I have gone to peace protests by myself. I wanted to take the kids with me, but she is afraid for them. And justifiably so.
And now we move into a new territory here with Iran. If anything should happen, my wife contends, our place is here to stay and fight. My question is how? Currently I am not very physically active because of real concerns of losing my job, including benefits, if I put my name on editorials or get too outspoken in my community. I know I should be stronger and it's an American's right, nay duty, to speak up. Then I look at my wife and 3 kids and think "what would happen to them if we lose benefits? Where would we live? How would I keep them fed?" So I am silenced out of this fear. And I am ashamed of this fear.
So what can we do? Sign another worthless petition by moveon that says:
Yesterday's New Yorker quotes a number of high-ranking administration and military officials on the possibility of pre-emptive war with Iran. Not only do the officials say war is really on the table, they report that the Bush administration is making plans to use nuclear weapons
Iran may well pose a threat. But people as diverse as Richard Clarke, Hillary Clinton, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff agree that a nuclear attackÂor even threatening oneÂis a terrible idea. Yet the White House insists on keeping the "nuclear option" on thtableau.3 And according to one member of Congress, "there's no pressure from Congress" for a more diplomatiroute.4
This is one place where all of us can agree: Americans don't support a pre-emptive nuclear attack on Iran, and Congress must act to prevent the president from launching one before it's too late. Please send a message to your representatives at the link below and forward this message to friends and family who you think will be concerned.
Do we really believe thesthese signatureses would do anything? Mean anything? I want moveon to apply it resources in another way, but what? Organizing another march where protestors can bbe portrayeded in the media as fringe hippies or worse, liberal extremists?
Buried at the end of the article is this:
Iran has informed the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency that it plans to construct 3,000 centrifuges at Natanz next year, Rademaker said.
``We calculate that a 3,000-machine cascade could produce enough uranium to build a nuclear weapon within 271 days,'' he said.
Of course Juan Cole succinctly lays it out for us as well. But who is going to get beyond the first 2 paragraphs? Who is going to hear anything beyond "16 days"?
What can we do to show our government that we will not back a preemptive nuclear war and that if it does bomb Iran, there will be real consequences from its citizenry? Because as far as I can tell, the threat of we'll vote you out of office hasn't been goin' so well for us.
UPDATE: As shock below infers, I really wanted to highlight two things: 1) the media's culpability in spreading these false claims -- 16 days -- which we all know they are false, but many people will not move beyond 16 days and 2) my own feeling of helplessness and inevitibility. Both suck and both make me angry.
So I ended with a question on what we should do to preemptively take the wind out of the Iran war rhetoric -- and I do not think the "we will vote you out" is a viable option. Do we write more letters, attend more marches, or is there something else we can do? Move out of the country (if only we were so lucky :)
looks like there are a number of good diaries popping up on Iran as well -- keep an eye out.