The Nuclear Option

And it isn't Senate Democrats or Republicans who are engaging in the nuclear option, but Iran. They are breaking seals on real nuclear materials to pursue their nuclear ambitions, which clearly include developing nuclear weapons.

Removing the Isfahan seals, which were put in place last year by the United Nations agency [the IAEA] under a voluntary agreement, means that Iran will be able to resume the second phase of the uranium conversion process, which Iran says it is pursuing for its civilian nuclear program.

Production remains suspended on the more sensitive part of Iran's nuclear fuel program, the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, a plant that Tehran kept secret for about two decades years until it was revealed in 2002.

Iran resumed the first phase of uranium conversion on Monday and diplomats at the International Atomic Energy Agency are divided about how to respond. A meeting of the agency's governing board previously scheduled for today was canceled because diplomats could not agree on how to rebuke Iran for resuming activities that could lead to development of an atomic weapon.

Where is Greenpeace and the other anti-proliferation groups protesting outside the Tehran capitol buildings to demand a cessation of activities?

Oh, who am I kidding. Greenpeace and their buddies are too busy sipping mocha lattes in Georgetown awaiting the call to arms to rail against President Bush's signature of the energy and transit bills into law. It is nice to know where their priorities lay. Or, maybe they were decamped to Washington Square Park to view the 'scenery.'

By the way, the division over how to deal with this is not because there is concern that this nuclear program is for civilian purposes, but because everyone involved knows that this leads down the path to nuclear weapons capabilities, but the Europeans are unable or unwilling to confront the Iranians, while the US wants to clamp down on Iran's capabilities now, before they can develop sufficient nuclear materials to be mated with their long range missile capabilities (which would be able to hit parts of Europe, in addition to Israel and the rest of the Middle East).