IRAN CAN NOW MAKE A BOMB

But not just any bomb. An atomic bomb. And, of course, Iran had lied about how much uranium it had. A UNITED NATIONS inspection team found an additional 460 pounds of low-enriched uranium at Iran's enrichment plant at Natanz during an annual inventory of nuclear materials. The article appeared in ARUTZSHEVA, the Israel National News, on February 20, 2009. The NEW YORK TIMES published a report on February 26, 2009 about the plant at Natanz.

Here is Arutz Sheva's article:

Iran has Enough Uranium for Bomb

by Gil Ronen

United Nations officials declared Thursday for the first time that Tehran has amassed more than a ton of uranium – an amount which is sufficient, with added purification, to make an atom bomb. According to the New York Times, atomic inspectors found that Iran recently understated by a third how much uranium it has enriched.

In a report issued in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency said it had discovered an additional 460 pounds of low-enriched uranium, a third more than Iran had previously disclosed. The agency made the find during its annual physical inventory of nuclear materials at Iran’s enrichment plant at Natanz.

According to the NYT report, “Independent nuclear weapons experts expressed surprise at the disclosure and criticized the atomic inspectors for making independent checks on Iran’s progress only once a year.”

“It’s worse than we thought,” Gary Milhollin, director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, told the newspaper. “It’s alarming that the actual production was underreported by a third.”

“You have enough atoms" to make a nuclear bomb, a senior United Nations official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the topic’s diplomatic sensitivity, told reporters on Thursday. His remarks confirmed estimates that private nuclear analysts made late last year. But the official noted that the material would have to undergo further enrichment if it was to be used as fuel for a bomb and that atomic inspectors had found no signs that Iran was making such preparations.

On Thursday evening, an Obama administration official who had reviewed the new report said, "There is a steady timeline of improvement, especially in terms of mastering the efficiency of the centrifuges," meaning that Iran has been able to increase its output of enriched uranium.

The official acknowledged that there were longstanding suspicions that Iran could have additional uranium enrichment sites that the inspectors had not seen or heard about. "Everyone’s nervous and worried about the possibility of Iran pursuing a clandestine capability," he said. The atomic agency’s quarterly report to its board, which was made public on Thursday, noted that Iran had now produced a total of 1,010 kilograms (2,227 pounds) of low-enriched uranium.

The officials dismissed suggestions that the discrepancy meant that Iran could smuggle enriched uranium out of the Natanz plant for processing at a secret location. “We’re sure that no material could have left the facility without us knowing,” the senior United Nations official said. But he admitted that the inspection teams do their own inventory just once a year. “It’s only at that moment,” he said, “that we have our own independent data.”

The report also gave updated figures for Iran’s use of centrifuges. At Natanz, it said, Iran is using about 4,000 centrifuges and has 1,600 more “in the wings,” for a total of 5,600. That compares with 3,800 working centrifuges listed in the agency’s November report.

Even though there were no signs of preparations to make an atomic bomb right now, there was obviously a reason for Iran under reporting the amount of enriched uranium it has. And with Russia supplying Iran with nuclear fuel, the technical support for building nuclear power plants, supplying missiles, and so on, the intentions are clear. I reported on the Russian involvement with Iran in my post of December 16, 2009, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE. I mentioned in that same post that Iranian President Mahmoud Man-I-Need-A-Job had said then that Israel would soon be wiped off the face of the map.

I really don't what it's going to take for Washington to wake up to what's going on. The Iranian president has made it very clear that he will rid the world of Zionism. That includes the United States. Think this man will negotiate anything?? Absolutely not. This is something that President Obama needs to understand. Terrorists DO NOT NEGOTIATE. I'm sure President Man-I-Need-A-Job is being advised by Russia on how to make public overtures for "peace" while secretly moving full steam ahead with their weapons programs. This is exactly what the former SOVIET UNION did for years while American reconnaisance showed otherwise.

We might as well face it: Iran will have nuclear weapons capabilities in the near future. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - we can either fight them now conventionally, or later in a nuclear confrontation. There are no other options. Iran is determined to continue on this course, and the time to deal with it is now before the situation goes from bad to much, much worse.

A SAFER AMERICA?

I heard on the news today about President Obama's first day in office. With the economy in shambles, and according to him, it's "the worst economy since the Great Depression", I figured the first thing he would start working on would be the economy. Not so. The very first thing he did was draft an EXECUTIVE ORDER to close GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE within a year. President Obama also "asked" the military judges to suspend the war crimes trials and as of this afternoon, at least one did so who was presiding over a Canadian accused of killing an American soldier. Needless to say, 9/11 families are infuriated at President Obama's request (9/11 FAMILIES OUTRAGE BY OBAMA CALL TO SUSPEND GUANTANAMO WAR CRIMES TRIALS, Fox News, January 21, 2009).

For one thing, this is another Obama flip-flop. During his campaign, he stated he wanted to close Guantanamo Bay within two years (OBAMA PLANS GUANTANAMO DEADLINE, BBC News, December 18, 2008). Now, on the very first day in office, it's less than a year.

So, where are the enemy combatants going to go? Some are just going to be released . . . period. Others will no doubt be tried in our court system, with the same rights and protections afforded you and I, at YOUR EXPENSE. Some, if not all, will get off on a technicality and they will go back to doing their dirty work - the next terrorist attack on the U. S.

Lest anyone start talking about all the alleged abuses there and so on, let me make this point. If there are abuses, deal with the abusers, not just do away with the whole thing. If we used this reasoning with our prison system, we wouldn't have any prisons or jails left and the thugs just running the streets.

There's one other thing that we don't hear about in the news that I think is important. RED CHINA has oil drilling rigs in the area of Cuba. The Cuban government aligned itself with the Red Chinese government after the breakup of the SOVIET UNION.

It was once said that those who don't learn from history are condemned to repeat it. I think we are now about to repeat history. When Fidel Castro's Cuba was allied with the Soviet Union, Soviet troops were trained in Cuba. The Soviet Union also carried out espionage operations against the U. S. from Cuba. It was very convenient since Cuba is only about ninety miles from Florida. And let's not forget the CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS. Fast forward to 2009. Do you actually believe that Red China is "just" drilling for oil there? Do you really believe the Chinese government would miss such a grand opportunity to conduct covert surveillance operations against the U. S. from these "oil rigs"? Electronic monitoring from there would be a snap. Keeping a close watch on the Chinese there as well as any future Chinese military training taking place there would be very easily done from the Guantanamo Bay base. Don't think such things can happen? Raul Castro, who as you know took Fidel Castro's place, recently officially strengthened Cuba's ties with China and Moscow (CUBA-CHINA STRENGTHEN TIES, Havana Times, November 21, 2008).

Considering what is at stake, we cannot afford to close Guantanamo Bay. It's very strategically located INSIDE an enemy nation and we absolutely can't afford to just let any of the terrorists there go free. I think President Obama needs to seriously rethink this one.