Clinton: Iran cannot be trusted with nuclear program

[bananas]

Source: CNN

Former President Bill Clinton weighed in one of the election's pressing international issues Tuesday saying Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cannot be trusted regarding his country's nuclear ambitions.

In an interview on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight" to air Tuesday at 9 pm E.T., Clinton also addressed ... <snip>

Asked to respond to the Iranian president questioning why his country cannot have nuclear weapons if other countries can, Clinton, in turn, posed a rhetorical question:

"Why isn't (Ahmandinejad) going for some bigger non-proliferation initiative instead of acting like what he really wants is a nuclear bomb because that will help to get everybody get rid of their nuclear weapons?"

"No serious person believes that," Clinton answered in the interview.

<snip>

Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/25/clinton-iran-cannot-be-trusted-with-nuclear-program/

[zellie]

1. Way to go my homey, Bill

Bubba nails it again.

"No serious person believes that"?

Lol... I know some people who would give you an argument about that.

[ZombieHorde]

38. It is classic fallacious argumentation.

That type of argumentation has been recognized as fallacious for thousands of years.

[Pterodactyl]

39. I see what you did there.

You snuck in a "fallacious" in a post about Clinton. Zing!

[ZombieHorde]

40. Ha! nt

[Canuckistanian]

2. Ahmandinejad is in charge of nothing

He's practically the spokesperson for the real leaders, the Guardian Council. And Ahmandinejad is on his way OUT.

I wish people would stop calling him the "Leader of Iran"

[harmonicon]

6. Telling the truth about Iran is a big no-no.

We must keep it shrouded in mystery as a dark and evil place, dontcha know!!

Heaven forbid that Americans learn that Iran is a first-world country with a highly educated population with a wide diversity of views on politics and religion - a heck of a lot like the US in many ways. If that happened, people might feel bad about bombing them.

[Missycim]

9. Please show me the views that accept gays,non muslims and

people who are critical of Islam.

[harmonicon]

11. Well, I guess you'd have to ask gay and non-muslim Iranians about that.

I assume they're ok with who they are, though they may not be 100% ok with their government. Of course, here in the US, gays have equal rights and no qualms with the government, right?

[Missycim]

15. You said they have a diversity of views,

well I want proof of that. I am speaking of the people as a whole not sub groups.

[harmonicon]

21. Who are the "people as a whole" if you're leaving out large numbers of people?

I'm pretty sure it's statistically impossible for there to be no homosexuals in Iran.

As for a diversity of views, were you living in a monastery for the last ten years or something? Do you not remember wide-spread political protests happening in Iran?

Do you think the Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, etc. in Iran hate non-Muslims? I imagine that they take their own religions just as seriously as Muslims do and are not self-hating masochists.

[Missycim]

33. Ya what happened to those protesters?

nt

[Comrade Grumpy]

50. They got repressed.

Which doesn't disprove the point that Iran is a diverse country with a diversity of political and cultural views. It just proves that there is a pretty effective authoritarian regime in charge.

[DonCoquixote]

17. has the US executed someone for being gay yet?

Untilthey do,yes, Iran does have a more bigoted LGBT policy than we do.

[harmonicon]

23. Oh, yes, of course they do.

I didn't mean to suggest otherwise, but you bring up a good point here. Has the US executed someone recently? Yep. We're in a really small, disgusting club with that one.

Just as I would rather not be bombed because of the terrible actions of my government, I assume most Iranians would rather not be bombed because of the terrible actions of their government.

That bit doesn't really matter though. I don't hear a lot of cries above the drums of war for bombing Iran for the purposes of bringing equal rights to gays or ending their death penalty.

[24601]

42. The question wasn't whether the US had executed someone, but whether the offense was being

GLBT. And the US rarely executes anyone. The vast majority of executions are conducted by individual states for violation of state laws rather than federal cases.

I have no doubt that some GLBT people have been executed, but their orientation hasn't been the offense.

[harmonicon]

47. Yeah, but that's a completely silly distinction to make.

Having a death penalty for any crime would be laughably absurd if it didn't involve the state killing people. That's some crazy backwards shit.

We also don't have equal rights in the US for all people. I don't think the pot should be calling (or bombing) the kettle black.

[sabrina 1]

43. Have you ever been to Iran?

[history lover]

36. soundbite generation

these days we learn from headlines and soundbites... too easy for people to think they know the issues when its a really just a superficial and vague idea of what's going on.

[oberliner]

32. The Supreme Leader is in charge of everything

I don't think anyone in this article called Ahmadinejad the "leader of Iran" - certainly not the Clintons.

He is the public face of Iran, however, and seems to enjoy giving interviews to Western news outlets.

[Canuckistanian]

37. Yeah, I know

But when anger turns towards Iran, everyone blames the EVIL Ahmadinejad, dictator of Iran.

He's not. And even Bill Clinton seems to endow him with more power than he really has.

[leveymg]

3. Bill, why not "help to get everybody get rid of their nuclear weapons." Start with those who have

them - Israel and Pakistan. I haven't heard a word about those, and they really do have lots and lots of bombs.

[harmonicon]

7. Change starts at home.

Start with the good ol' USA. Until we disarm, we're hypocrites for asking anyone else to.

[Missycim]

12. Ya lets disarm while they arm (not to mention china, russia etc)

thats the spirit!!!1

[harmonicon]

14. Yes, it is.

All we gain from having nuclear weapons is the spread of such weapons around the world and an increased likelihood of destroying this world. Do you think hypocrisy is a virtue, or do you think every country should be nuclear?

[Missycim]

16. No I am quite alright being judgemental

I think some countries are mature and some others not so much. If you think Iran nuclear is the same as the US being nuclear, then there's a problem

[harmonicon]

19. No, I don't. The US is clearly far more dangerous. (nt)

[Missycim]

20. Ok this is an agree to disagree moment and we shall move on,

take care

[harmonicon]

24. You too. (nt)

[history lover]

35. i think you would appreciate this link

www.armageddonletters.com
taking lessons from the Cuban Missile Crisis to generate discussion about nonproliferation and disarmament... short films, graphic novels, and blogs...

[Missycim]

10. Neither one of them have threatened to wipe another country off the map

nt

[Ash_F]

22. Yet another right wing lie.

Thoroughly debunked but that doesn't stop some duers. No nation needs nuclear weapons either. As the other poster said, Freeperville is that way --->

[Missycim]

31. lol you are cute

its like watching grover dill on "a Christmas story", you don't have to try so hard building cred.



What do you think has kept the Jews safe for nearly 40+ years?

[Ash_F]

41. Not right-wing talking points cribbed straight from Fox and Limbaugh, that's for sure. /nt

[King_David]

46. Debunked? ha ha

it has become right wing to quote Ahmadinejad. ( the bigoted homophobic jerk ? )

Debunked my ass.

And I am a lifelong democratic party supporter.

And anyone claiming it has been debunked when the BIGOTED HOMOPHOBIC IDIOT JERK ,says it at least once or twice a week is

delusional.

[Ash_F]

58. Do you speak Farsi?

Maybe you should get educated on the subject before you go making personal attacks.

PS - Also, it is possible to support gay-rights, women's rights and democratic reform in Iran with out resorting to lies. Cheers.

[King_David]

59. No need to speak Farsi

His pet official 'pravda' press TV and official websites do a grand job of translation.

He does not have the same embarrassment or reticence in sprouting his bigoted jerk idiotic imbecilic juvenile hate that some in the west do.

It ain't even up for discussion.

He says it weekly,clearly,and without shame.

He is a fucking homophobic bigoted antisemitic holocaust denying asshole ! ( no need to translate that into Farsi)

[Ash_F]

60. No argument here

"He is a fucking homophobic bigoted antisemitic holocaust denying asshole !" <- This is true

I never disputed that, in any post. His own words prove that.

BUT he has never threatened to strike Israel. Ever. That is a flat out lie. A dangerous one because it can be a pre-text for instigating war. A lie that has been debunked by reputable press, but not before the right-wing noise machine passes it around. Just the other day, Reuters tried it again with some editorial shenanigans before CBS stepped in and put the kabosh on it.

"But while Reuters quoted Ahmadinejad as calling for Israel to be “eliminated,” the official translation of his remarks indicated that he steered clear of the fiery rhetoric he is best known for."

Even Obama carefully avoided claiming that in his UN speech. He chose his words wisely for a reason. It wasn't just semantics. Our president is not a propagandist nor a liar. It's not unlike the "you didn't build that" meme he had to deal with a while ago. Except this is more dangerous because we are talking about war.

[King_David]

61. You're too much,

Your 'mistranslation ' argument is as ridiculous as it was a few years ago.

You're the only one I have seen clinging to this nonsense.

[Ash_F]

62. And CBS?

You conveniently disregard them too? Who's clinging?

[Beacool]

52. Debunked????????

How many times has Ahmandinejad called for the destruction of Israel????

[leftynyc]

55. NEVER DEBUNKED

And I'm shouting because it's a lie worth shouting about.

[sabrina 1]

44. Good question, the US needs to lead the way in getting rid of Nukes. But instead

the focus on this one country which DOESN'T EVEN HAVE THEM, is more than suspicious. Bill must think we are all as naive as we used to be back before we realized he was such good friends with the Bush family, AFTER we spent years defending him from Bush supporters.. That was the beginning of a rude awakening for me regarding politicians in general.

Bill needs to remember what he himself said about nuclear armed nations when he was president. He stated that the Pakistan/India situation was the most dangerous in the world and that during his term of office, they came close to Nuclear War three different times.

I guess he forgot that threat from actual nuclear armed countries, and someone has persuaded him to try to convince us that Iran, which has no nukes, is a worse threat then the countries he himself identified as the real threat to world peace.

[harun]

4. DLC PNAC'r

[Ash_F]

5. Clinton was right on that question, but will he endorse such an initiative himself?

He carefully avoided going there. The US could lead from the front by drawing down it's own nuclear weapons program, instead of modernizing it to the tune of billions.

http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/USNuclearModernization

[TomClash]

8. No serious person believes the US and Israel are interested in nonproliferation

And neither is anyone else.

[Stewland]

13. If Iran has the intent of using nuclear capacity for evil

Certainly there are better ways to deal with Iran than bombing and killing thousands of its citizens. I troubles me that Natanyaho is doing his darnedest to drag the United States into a war before our elections. Why can't our elected officials gather the strength to tell Zionists NO More War ,No more military aid and no more support of its militaristic aims.

[Comrade_McKenzie]

25. I trust Obama to do the right thing. nt

[Ash_F]

26. +1

He definitely won't strike without a declaration of violation from the General Conference. Which also will not happen, because Iran is not in violation of the NPT.

He won't act outside of international law, like previous presidents.

[bananas]

27. Iran is in violation of the NPT.

And here's the transcript of Obama's remarks about Iran:

"Time and again, it has failed to take the opportunity to demonstrate that its nuclear program is peaceful, and to meet its obligations to the United Nations."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/25/remarks-president-un-general-assembly

<snip>

In Iran, we see where the path of a violent and unaccountable ideology leads. The Iranian people have a remarkable and ancient history, and many Iranians wish to enjoy peace and prosperity alongside their neighbors. But just as it restricts the rights of its own people, the Iranian government continues to prop up a dictator in Damascus and supports terrorist groups abroad. Time and again, it has failed to take the opportunity to demonstrate that its nuclear program is peaceful, and to meet its obligations to the United Nations.

So let me be clear. America wants to resolve this issue through diplomacy, and we believe that there is still time and space to do so. But that time is not unlimited. We respect the right of nations to access peaceful nuclear power, but one of the purposes of the United Nations is to see that we harness that power for peace. And make no mistake, a nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained. It would threaten the elimination of Israel, the security of Gulf nations, and the stability of the global economy. It risks triggering a nuclear-arms race in the region, and the unraveling of the non-proliferation treaty. That’s why a coalition of countries is holding the Iranian government accountable. And that’s why the United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

<snip>

[Ash_F]

30. Nope

We've been through this before. Only the nations who wrote and signed the treaty can find one in violation. That is not for you to dictate. Even Obama has not said Iran is in violation and that is on purpose.

[sabrina 1]

45. Israel is in violation of UN Resolutions. How come nothing has been done about that?

[leftynyc]

56. Because the UN is a joke

Always resolutions about Israel but still haven't had anything but wringing of the hands on Syria and in fact FAILED to condemn them. I don't know any country that takes them seriously anymore.

[FrodosPet]

57. Dear God NO!

For the love of all that is dear to our nation:

Our President is being lied to, or perhaps blackmailed, regarding Iran. Get the warmongers and neocons, feeding their lies, away from President Obama. He needs to be surrounded by peace loving advisers, not by the savage self interests that are steering us towards war.

[24601]

63. Golly gee, you forgot to blame the Jews. What good is a thinly-veiled attack on Israel without once

mentioning the Jews. "Neocons" just doesn't have quite the same resonance as "those warmongering Jews."

For the record, I want our nation to stand with Israel, even if it does live in a crappy neighborhood. And being unprepared for war is the one sure way to ensure you will have one.

[bananas]

28. LOL - "He won't act outside of international law"

Assassinating Iranian scientists, sabotaging Iranian industrial equipment - all perfectly legal!

Remember, kids, it's not illegal if you don't get caught!

[Ash_F]

29. I don't believe Obama is responsible for any of that /nt

[Beacool]

54. Well, good for you.

I wouldn't be so trusting. For example, why was the administration peddling the story that the attack in Libya was a consequence of the anti Islamic video when it wasn't?

[history lover]

34. lets take a look at history...

The 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis is coming up in October and there is alot of analysis going on about how we came to the brink of a nuclear armageddon and what lessons we can learn from that situation and the leadership of Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro at that time... Take a look at www.armageddonletters.com/films. They have only added 4 films, but are making a series based on the communications between the leaders of the US, Russia, and Cuba to look at what that moment in time means for us now. Maybe its scary to disarm our weapons, but it's really scary to know that thousands of nuclear weapons exist and only 20 are needed to cause a nuclear winter.

[Megahurtz]

48. Bill Needs to Stick to Signing Books

or something. He seems to have Foot In Mouth Disease.

[Beacool]

53. No, he doesn't.

He's smarter than most people and knows exactly what he is saying.

[DeSwiss]

49. I don't trust anyone with nuclear weapons......

- Or any nuclear material of any kind. We haven't evolved sufficiently, in my view, to be trusted with such knowledge. And I especially don't trust US, since we have the most nuclear weapons and thus a greater probability of fucking something up with them -- by accident, or whatever. And we have the ''most accidents'' with them too. Absolute butter-fingers. We've got bombs that fell out of aircraft, or those that crashed or otherwise sunk into the drink with oodles of nuclear weapons in-tow. And there all still down there next to Davy Jones locker -- too deep or difficult, and/or risky to try and retrieve -- they say. Literal ticking time bombs.

Peruse through these when you have an hour or five to kill.......

List of civilian radiation accidents
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_civilian_radiation_accidents

List of civilian nuclear accidents
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_civilian_nuclear_accidents

Criticality accidents
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticality_accident

List of civilian nuclear incidents
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_civilian_nuclear_incidents

List of military nuclear accidents
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents

List of states with nuclear weapons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_with_nuclear_weapons

And here's a few more for the bonus round:

Russia Announces Enormous Finds Of Radioactive Waste And Nuclear Reactors In Arctic Seas

Radioactive material dumped in the cavern during the 1990s was 'likely entombed' at the bottom

New flyover footage of giant sinkhole shows signs of further expansion (VIDEO)

[olddad56]

51. but India, China, Israel, Pakistan, the US, etc can be trusted? ...

I wouldn't trust Robme with a fucking BB gun. He might put his eye out.