News Roundup - Hour 2
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-08-06/news-roundup-hour-2
Afghan President Hamid Karzai gives a speech at the National Military Academy of Afghanistan, during the graduation ceremony for 212 new officers March 18, 2010
Flickr user isafmedia
Hamid Karzai calls for a probe of the U.S.-backed anti-corruption task force. The Taliban claims responsibility for killing a top Pakistani security official. And a hip-hop star plans to run for president of Haiti. A panel of journalists joins guest host Susan Page for analysis of the week's top international news stories.
Guests
Jonathan Landay
senior national security and intelligence correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers.
Elise Labott
senior State Department producer for CNN.
James Kitfield
senior correspondent, National Journal magazine.
Comments
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Hi
Your discussion about Obama's speech on Iraq was annoying to say the least. You can't have it both ways:
If GW Bush gets credit for our drawdown in Iraq, then he also gets blame for both the Iraq war (botched early stage), the Afghan war mess, and the financial crisis. If Obama now owns the Afghan war and the financial crisis as you all are fond of saying, then he gets credit for the any success in Iraq, the easing of the financial crisis (which is going to be a very long-term process), and whatever happens in Afghanistan.
I am concerned about the way Iran's nuclear program was discussed on today's show as well as past shows. Diane, or her stand-in, really need to ask more questions.
One of today's panelists mentioned concern over Iran's 20 percent uranium stock being used as seed fuel for further enrichment for a nuclear weapon. I'd like to hear in concrete terms exactly how this would happen. Iran's nuclear program has been under near-continuous inspection by the IAEA. This is something that none of your panelists mentioned. Based on CIA estimates, Iran may have enough uranium to make as many as 2 nuclear weapons. This is inclusive of the same uranium that is under IAEA inspection.
While your panelist mentioned that Iran has uranium enriched to as much as 20 percent, he did not mention that most of Iran's uranium is enriched to only 3.6 percent. The uranium enriched to 3.6 percent is useful for power generation. The uranium enriched to 20 percent is used to produce radioactive isotopes for medical purposes. Neither the 3.6 percent uranium, nor the 20 percent uranium can be made into a nuclear weapon without much more enrichment. While Iran has gained nuclear fuel cycle experience, there is no evidence that it has ever enriched uranium to weapons grade nor is there any conclusive evidence that Iran currently has this capability.
How about asking today's panelist what would have to happen in reality for Iran to use its uranium for weapons! You can blindly speculate about a secret, unknown enrichment program -- but for Iran to use their known uranium stocks, they'd first have to kick out the IAEA, do a whole lot of enrichment (possibly acquire additional expertise and technology), and then figure out how to build an actual bomb. Long story short, it is conflating the facts to suggest that Iran can develop a nuclear weapon in the near-term. Should Iran start down this path, the United States would have ample time to respond militarily.
Oops--posted under wrong date.