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Old 11-14-2007, 08:40 AM   #1
fishpoopoo
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Smile crazy persians might not be so crazy after all




Quote:
MORNING INTELLIGENCE BRIEF11.14.2007
Geopolitical Diary: A U.S.-Iranian Trade?

Iran handed over a set of blueprints to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Tuesday that detail precisely how one might shape weapons-grade uranium into a form useable in a nuclear warhead.

The IAEA has been after hard copies of the plans for two years, ever since an inspector accidentally stumbled across a few pages of them while investigating Iran's nuclear program. Iran asserts that it received the plans unexpectedly from the Pakistanis who supplied them with certain technologies years ago. We can just imagine that thank-you note: "As a token of our appreciation for your purchase of 100 illegal uranium centrifuges, we would like to give you these free weapons plans!" But stretched truths aside, the move is the largest confidence-building step Iran has ever taken with the IAEA. Tehran really does seem to be coming clean about heretofore clandestine aspects of its nuclear program.

On the surface, this is a manifestly inane move, but only if you assume that Iran really wants a bomb. Stratfor has long maintained that Iran never expects to possess a nuclear weapon. Were Iran ever to get close, Israel and/or the United States undoubtedly would wage an air campaign to prevent its nuclear ascension. Instead, the program is more akin to that of North Korea: It is intended to function as a chip to be traded for concessions in other areas. Pyongyang is trading the North Korean program for international integration; Tehran wishes to trade the Iranian program for security guarantees in Iraq.

After four years of blood, sweat, tears and false starts, that may be finally happening. Removing the smoke and mirrors around the nuclear program only makes sense if Iran is getting a trade. On Nov. 12, the commander of U.S. Central Command, Adm. William Fallon, said explicitly that the U.S. military has no intention of attacking Iran -- not exactly the sort of rhetoric one would expect from Washington if the White House felt the need to pressure Tehran. There has been a definite -- and substantial -- thaw in U.S.-Iranian relations.

Should this thaw progress, the next steps will be twofold. First and most publicly, if "the Great Satan" and a charter member of the "Axis of Evil" are going to cut a deal, both governments will need to prepare their respective populations for a change in worldview. A generation of rhetoric cannot be unwound in a day. Second, terms will need to be announced to the public. Issues of U.S. sanctions, limitations on Iraq's military and Iranian activities in Lebanon will need to be swapped across the negotiating table like playing cards.

Of course, even if the Iranians and Americans are seeing eye-to-eye and are serious about going through with it -- which is optimistic thinking -- they are not the only ones with a vote. The player in this game with the most to lose, and therefore the biggest reason to scupper a deal, is Russia. An Iranian-American rapprochement would free up Iran to muck about in the Caucasus and Central Asia and liberate the Americans to resurge their power into Central Europe and Ukraine.

If Russia can undo any progress by either backing or hamstringing one power, you can bet your borscht that is just what will happen.

Situation Reports

1250 GMT -- IRAQ -- A roadside bomb exploded outside Baghdad's Green Zone on Nov. 14, killing one civilian and wounding two, Reuters reported, citing police. Authorities said the bomb targeted a passing U.S. military convoy, and that one humvee vehicle had been hit.

1244 GMT -- PAKISTAN -- Hundreds of students demonstrated in major cities in Pakistan on Nov. 14 against the state of emergency imposed by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf earlier in the month. The Associated Press reported that fugitive opposition leader Imran Khan appeared at a student demonstration in Lahore, and his Justice Party said police quickly took him into custody.

1238 GMT -- BANGLADESH -- Suspected criminals snapped fiber optic cable in the southern Bangladeshi district of Feni on Nov. 13, causing outages to Internet and overseas telecommunications services that lasted about 15 hours, media reported Nov. 14. This reportedly was the 22nd time -- and the second in a week -- that service has been disrupted since the line was installed in 2006. The Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board called it "an act of sabotage."

1230 GMT -- RUSSIA -- Russia is considering deploying short-range missiles to Belarus as part of efforts to counter the planned U.S. missile defense shield in Europe, Russian media reported Nov. 14, citing Col. Gen. Vladimir Zaritsky, chief of artillery and rocket forces for the Russian Ground Troops.

0254 GMT -- RUSSIA, GEORGIA -- Russia has given Georgia the land and facilities used for its recently vacated military base in Batumi, Itar-Tass reported Nov. 13. All Russian troops and vehicles have been withdrawn.

0248 GMT -- ITALY -- Police in Italy have arrested five suspected high-ranking Mafia "military commanders" in Sicily and are executing search warrants against another 70 across the country, The Age reported Nov. 13, citing police sources. The commanders had reported to Mafia boss Salvatore Lo Piccolo before he was arrested Nov. 5.

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