05-02-2018, 09:54 PM
*** 3-May-18 World View -- Israel reveals intelligence coup on Iran's nuclear weapons program
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Israel reveals intelligence coup on Iran's nuclear weapons program
****
![[Image: g180502b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g180502b.jpg)
Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands next to a facsimile of the intelligence archive that Mossad had taken from a Tehran warehouse in January (Times of Israel)
Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday revealed the
results of a massive intelligence coup by Israel's intelligence agency
Mossad.
In February 2016, spies from Mossad discovered the top-secret location
of a warehouse in Iran's capital city Tehran where thousands of
documents related to Iran's past nuclear weapons developments were
stored. Mossad operatives broke into the building one night in
January of this year, removed half a ton of archived documents, and
smuggled them back to Israel the same night. The material included
55,000 pages and another 55,000 files on 183 CDs.
The archived material was of Iran's nuclear program that began
in the 1980s, and ended in 2003, when the Iraq war revealed
that Saddam Hussein was not developing WMDs.
The trove of intelligence data is being used in the debate over what
the Trump administration should do on May 12, when it must decide
whether to abandon the nuclear deal that the West signed with Iran,
known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Those who favor continuing to support the JCPOA say that there's
nothing in the trove of data that indicates that Iran has violated
any of its obligations under the treaty, and that appears to be
true.
Those who oppose continuing to support the JCPOA say that Iran lied
about the extent of its nuclear weapons program that ended in 2003.
In particular, they say that Iran claimed that the nuclear development
was only for peaceful purposes, while the intelligence data provides
extensive technical information on how Iran was developing nuclear
weapons.
Those who favor continuing to support the JCPOA say nothing revealed
in the intelligence haul was new, and that in fact it was known and
published in a 2011 document from the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA).
Those who oppose continuing to support the JCPOA say that the 2011
IAEA document contains only a small fraction of the information that
was revealed in the intelligence trove, and that furthermore Iran had
not destroyed all the work in its nuclear weapons program, as it had
promised.
So this is all going to be a major heated and sometimes acrimonious
debate between now and May 12, when President Trump will announce the
administration's decision on whether to continue to support the JCPOA.
It's also worth noting that in October 2015, Hashemi Rafsanjani, the
head of Iran's Expediency Council, said in a televised interview that
Iran had begun developing nuclear weapons in the 1980s during the Iran/Iraq war,
and continued
development for many years. Times of Israel and International Atomic Energy Commission-IAEA (PDF,2011) and Times of Israel
****
**** Importance of 2003 Iraq War revealed by the Iranian intelligence coup
****
Even by the extremely low to nonexistent standards of today's
journalists and today's politicians, the statements made about the
Iraq war on a daily basis are abysmally ignorant, saying that it was a
catastrophe and the worst war in American history and other idiotic
things. Actually, it's the people who opposed the Iraq war in 2003
who owe the world an apology, since they were unwilling to stop Saddam
Hussein from using WMDs to kill thousands of people.
The new intelligence trove from Iran provides further evidence that
NOT pursuing the Iraq war could have been a catastrophe.
We now know that the Iran had a very aggressive nuclear weapons
development program that began in the 1980s during the Iran/Iraq war,
at a time when Saddam Hussein was using mustard gas and other WMDs on
Kurds and Iranians.
This program continued until October 2003, when Iran's Supreme Leader
Seyed Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa ending all nuclear weapons
development. The fatwa was issued because the American invasion
of Iraq and the defeat of Saddam Hussein had ended any possibility
of Iraq developing nuclear weapons. Iran had already been
victimized by Saddam's WMDs, and in 2003 Saddam was refusing
IAEA inspections, so without the Iraq war there was little doubt
that Saddam would continue development of WMDs, and possibly
nuclear weapons.
If it hadn't been for the Iraq war, then Iran would have continued
nuclear weapons development, and would be a major nuclear weapons
power in the Mideast today. Furthermore, since Iran has been working
with North Korea, North Korea would also be a major nuclear weapons
power today.
Saudi Arabia would not have simply tolerated a nuclear Iran, so it
would have obtained its own nuclear weapons from Pakistan. Saddam
Hussein would undoubtedly at least continued development of WMDs. So
the Mideast and the world would be very different and infinitely more
dangerous places today if it hadn't been for the Iraq war. Bloomberg
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mossad,
Iran, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA,
Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iraq, Saddam Hussein, Seyed Ali Khamenei,
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, North Korea
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Israel reveals intelligence coup on Iran's nuclear weapons program
- Importance of 2003 Iraq War revealed by the Iranian intelligence coup
****
**** Israel reveals intelligence coup on Iran's nuclear weapons program
****
Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands next to a facsimile of the intelligence archive that Mossad had taken from a Tehran warehouse in January (Times of Israel)
Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday revealed the
results of a massive intelligence coup by Israel's intelligence agency
Mossad.
In February 2016, spies from Mossad discovered the top-secret location
of a warehouse in Iran's capital city Tehran where thousands of
documents related to Iran's past nuclear weapons developments were
stored. Mossad operatives broke into the building one night in
January of this year, removed half a ton of archived documents, and
smuggled them back to Israel the same night. The material included
55,000 pages and another 55,000 files on 183 CDs.
The archived material was of Iran's nuclear program that began
in the 1980s, and ended in 2003, when the Iraq war revealed
that Saddam Hussein was not developing WMDs.
The trove of intelligence data is being used in the debate over what
the Trump administration should do on May 12, when it must decide
whether to abandon the nuclear deal that the West signed with Iran,
known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Those who favor continuing to support the JCPOA say that there's
nothing in the trove of data that indicates that Iran has violated
any of its obligations under the treaty, and that appears to be
true.
Those who oppose continuing to support the JCPOA say that Iran lied
about the extent of its nuclear weapons program that ended in 2003.
In particular, they say that Iran claimed that the nuclear development
was only for peaceful purposes, while the intelligence data provides
extensive technical information on how Iran was developing nuclear
weapons.
Those who favor continuing to support the JCPOA say nothing revealed
in the intelligence haul was new, and that in fact it was known and
published in a 2011 document from the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA).
Those who oppose continuing to support the JCPOA say that the 2011
IAEA document contains only a small fraction of the information that
was revealed in the intelligence trove, and that furthermore Iran had
not destroyed all the work in its nuclear weapons program, as it had
promised.
So this is all going to be a major heated and sometimes acrimonious
debate between now and May 12, when President Trump will announce the
administration's decision on whether to continue to support the JCPOA.
It's also worth noting that in October 2015, Hashemi Rafsanjani, the
head of Iran's Expediency Council, said in a televised interview that
Iran had begun developing nuclear weapons in the 1980s during the Iran/Iraq war,
and continued
development for many years. Times of Israel and International Atomic Energy Commission-IAEA (PDF,2011) and Times of Israel
****
**** Importance of 2003 Iraq War revealed by the Iranian intelligence coup
****
Even by the extremely low to nonexistent standards of today's
journalists and today's politicians, the statements made about the
Iraq war on a daily basis are abysmally ignorant, saying that it was a
catastrophe and the worst war in American history and other idiotic
things. Actually, it's the people who opposed the Iraq war in 2003
who owe the world an apology, since they were unwilling to stop Saddam
Hussein from using WMDs to kill thousands of people.
The new intelligence trove from Iran provides further evidence that
NOT pursuing the Iraq war could have been a catastrophe.
We now know that the Iran had a very aggressive nuclear weapons
development program that began in the 1980s during the Iran/Iraq war,
at a time when Saddam Hussein was using mustard gas and other WMDs on
Kurds and Iranians.
This program continued until October 2003, when Iran's Supreme Leader
Seyed Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa ending all nuclear weapons
development. The fatwa was issued because the American invasion
of Iraq and the defeat of Saddam Hussein had ended any possibility
of Iraq developing nuclear weapons. Iran had already been
victimized by Saddam's WMDs, and in 2003 Saddam was refusing
IAEA inspections, so without the Iraq war there was little doubt
that Saddam would continue development of WMDs, and possibly
nuclear weapons.
If it hadn't been for the Iraq war, then Iran would have continued
nuclear weapons development, and would be a major nuclear weapons
power in the Mideast today. Furthermore, since Iran has been working
with North Korea, North Korea would also be a major nuclear weapons
power today.
Saudi Arabia would not have simply tolerated a nuclear Iran, so it
would have obtained its own nuclear weapons from Pakistan. Saddam
Hussein would undoubtedly at least continued development of WMDs. So
the Mideast and the world would be very different and infinitely more
dangerous places today if it hadn't been for the Iraq war. Bloomberg
Related Articles
- Khamenei's nuclear fatwa and the Iraq war (29-Oct-2015)
- The Iraq war may be related to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (17-Feb-2008)
- Economists baffled on 30th anniversary of 1987 stock market panic (20-Oct-2017)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mossad,
Iran, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA,
Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iraq, Saddam Hussein, Seyed Ali Khamenei,
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, North Korea
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
