Chris Floyd: Uranium Enrichment: The Bushes, The Saudis and The Bomb

[babylonsister]

Uranium Enrichment: The Bushes, The Saudis and The Bomb
Written by Chris Floyd
Thursday, 29 May 2008


Did you hear the alarming story about a country led by draconian Muslim religious extremists acquiring enriched uranium for their nuclear plants -- plants which could be weaponized anytime in the future, putting weapons of mass destruction in the hands of Sharia law fanatics who repress women, chop off heads and throttle all dissent? What's more, they were given this weapons-grade material by a rogue nation led by a goonish tyrant who gained power only because he was the wastrel son of the former leader. Break out the regime change machinery right away; this evil must be stopped!

What's that? No, we're not talking about Iran getting souped-up nukestuff from North Korea. We're talking about George W. Bush's bestowal of enriched uranium on his pals and business partners, the Saudi royals, the most draconian religious tyrants in the world. Harvey Wasserman has the goods at Democracy Now:

You know, I'd like to know the insane asylum in which this policy was concocted. The idea of giving enriched uranium to the Saudis while threatening war with the Iranians for enriching uranium is astonishing. The idea that the Saudis are going to somehow lower the price of oil on the basis of possibly getting nuclear reactors in the future is just almost staggering to think about. It's something, I guess, we've come to expect with the Bush administration.

But the nuclear power industry is trying desperately to spread itself all over the world, and we have proliferation problems. As you may recall, the Clinton administration cut a deal with the North Koreans to build a reactor there, and of course now suddenly, when Bush comes in, they're a nuclear threat. We have to put this in perspective. We have to remember that when the Shah was in power in Iran so many years ago, he was in the process of buying thirty-six reactors, and had those reactors been completed before he fell to the Ayatollah, Iran would now have thirty-six reactors. So what the Bush administration is telling us is that this current Saudi government is always going to be in power and it's perfectly fine for them to have nuclear reactors. We know that India and Pakistan built—both built nuclear weapons from their commercial atomic power programs, as perhaps did South Africa. And it's just almost staggering to think about this prospect.

How strange: Bush and the many beaters of drums for war with Iran tell us over and over that Tehran's nuclear program must be aimed at building weapons, for why else would a country awash in oil want to pursue nuclear energy? Yet when Bush's smooching buddy King Fahd and his immensely corrupt court of baksheeshers -- led, of course, by the billion-dollar bribe maven, Prince Bandar Ibn Sultan (or as he is known in America's own two-bit royal family, "Bandar Bush") -- say they want to supplement their oil resources with nuclear power, why, that's perfectly logical. Enriched uranium? By all means, be our guest!

more...

http://www.chris-floyd.com/content/view/1521/135/

[AntiFascist]

1. K&R, the only way the threat of "Islamo-Fascism" makes any sense...

is when you consider the control that Saudi Arabia has over OPEC, the investments they have made in American media and other mega-monopolies, and of course their success in buying influence in Congress and the shadowy military and defense deals made with the Bush dynasty and others. It almost seems like Republicans would gladly convert over to Sharia government in a heartbeat if the price were right.

[windoe]

2. They're the ones that 'officially' attacked us on 911

so why would we give them uranium? Must......resist......illogical......illogical...........

[Diclotican]

3. babylonsister

babylonsister

Funny thing this.. US (the current administration) are fearfully that Iran are building the bomb, and would be rather happy to se Tehran bombed back to the stone age. But are given SAUDI-ARABIA a country with the most extreme Islamic belief in the whole muslim world nuclear tecnology... And Saudi Arabia are _not_ that stable, even that the Royal House for now have the power... What would happen 10 or 20 year down the road are every ones guess... And I would say that the promise of a stable, democratic Saudi-Arabia are FAR LESS than a an stable, democratic Iran... And the Iranian people are _willing_ to work with others to get a more free, and possible over time democratic Iran, with more than one party or the cleric to decide what to do. But they would do it in THEIR TIMETABLE and with LESS interference from the outside.. Not the way US would do it...

But Saudi-Arabia, where they do learn from early school day to hate the americans, and the Western world as the devil. There GWB would give them everything.. Even enriched uranium... And I would bet my right hand that they are not selling the Light water reactor type to the Saudi-Arabian, but rather the Hwy water reactor type.. Who are more easy to rebuild as a reactor to enrich uranium, to nuclear bombs than the light water type reactor..:sarcasm:

But as a foreigner it looks like the Bush Administration are willing to do everything in their power to screw the world royalty up, so the next President would have a hell of a time with many new catastrophes...

And as they do point out.. If Iran before the revolution was given ALL 36 nuclear reactors, the Islamic Republic of Iran now would have had more than 36 different nuclear reactors, to use....

And India and Pakistan used THEIR COMMERCIAL NUCLEAR REACTORS to build the bomb.. India was maybe more clear what they was doing than Pakistan, but they got the bomb first to... But it is known that Pakistan have given the information, and hardware to build nuclear weapon to more than 20 nations.. ALL less than friendly to the US..

Diclotican

Sorry my bad english, not my native language

[bemildred]

4. Look, you have to understand what the issue is.

The issue is not nukes, the issue is who OWNS the nukes. And the Bushites don't give much of a shit about a few terrorist attacks with dirty weapons or whatever. That would be just like 9/11, a great pretext for more jingoism, "preventive" war, and consolidation of the national security state.