So Mohamed ElBaradei finds it "distressing" that neither Israel nor the U.S. shared information with him about an apparent Syrian nuclear program before Israeli jets destroyed it on September 6. Imagine that:
Not everyone is prepared to entrust the head of the International Atomic EnergyAgency with their national security.
For the past year, Mr. ElBaradei has been running an independent foreign policy from his IAEA perch. People tell him he is "doing God's work" -- or so he tells the New York Times. In August, he announced a nuclear agreement he had reached with Iran's mullahs, without consulting his political superiors at the agency. Even the Europeans protested that one.
Ouch. You begin to wonder about the impartiality of the IAEA if things like this go on.
The agreement made no reference to the U.N. Security Council's demand that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment program, a demand Mr. ElBaradei himself dismisses as moot.
Bullshit. The demand was made and sanctions were in place for that very reason. Stop enrichment and we'll negotiate. Even the Security Council decided that was the way to go. ElBaradei seems to be trying to undermine the credibility of the US and Europeans.
The agreement also allowed the Iranians to dribble out information on the dozen outstanding questions the IAEA has yet to resolve.
Answer the questions or face stiffer consequences. It's really not that hard to understand.
Mr. ElBaradei has coasted on the IAEA's reputation as the authoritative source of information on the world's nuclear secrets. Yet this is the same agency that was taken by surprise by nuclear projects in Libya, North Korea and Iraq in the 1980s. And now in Syria, which in September was voted co-chair of the IAEA's General Conference.
Aren't these guys supposed to be on top of every nation's nuclear intentions? If they are taken by surprise by 3 different nations, perhaps a changing of the guard is in order.
All this is reason enough for the U.S., Israel and any other country serious about stopping nuclear proliferation to refuse Mr. ElBaradei's not-so-good diplomatic offices. Not surprisingly, the Syrians are hailing the IAEA chief for saying neither Israel nor the U.S. had provided "any evidence" to suggest Damascus was in the nuclear business. Satellite images show the Syrians have now covered their tracks in the desert.
The Syrians could have easily answered these questions by leaving the site alone after the bombing. However, the fact that they cleaned it up so quickly and left such little left shows that they had something to hide.
You can win a fair fight if the Referee's against you.
Travis
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