PHOTOS of Interest for TODAY:Here are Nargis and Galya, my lovely coworkers and friends. This photo was taken today at the office.
QUOTE FOR TODAY: (my apologies for its length, but I find it interesting)
LAMB: Why should we try to prevent other countries from having what we have?
BOLTON: Because not all countries are equal. And some countries are real threats, particularly countries run by governments like Kim Jong Il’s in North Korea, or the autocratic theocracy in Tehran. Their possession of nuclear weapons poses a threat to us, to our friends and neighbors, and international peace and security.
That’s why it’s important to try to prevent these governments from getting nuclear weapons in the first place, because once they have them, the calculus changes dramatically.
LAMB: But don’t we have a different attitude toward India and Pakistan and Israel when it comes to nuclear weapons, compared to what we think of Korea and Tehran?
BOLTON: Well, I think North Korea is different from Israel. And I think that the idea that nuclear weapons in the hands of - all states are fundamentally the same is just wrong.
I trust Israel with nuclear weapons the same way I trust Great Britain with nuclear weapons.
BOLTON: Because not all countries are equal. And some countries are real threats, particularly countries run by governments like Kim Jong Il’s in North Korea, or the autocratic theocracy in Tehran. Their possession of nuclear weapons poses a threat to us, to our friends and neighbors, and international peace and security.
That’s why it’s important to try to prevent these governments from getting nuclear weapons in the first place, because once they have them, the calculus changes dramatically.
LAMB: But don’t we have a different attitude toward India and Pakistan and Israel when it comes to nuclear weapons, compared to what we think of Korea and Tehran?
BOLTON: Well, I think North Korea is different from Israel. And I think that the idea that nuclear weapons in the hands of - all states are fundamentally the same is just wrong.
I trust Israel with nuclear weapons the same way I trust Great Britain with nuclear weapons.
.... (and)....
LAMB: What do you think would happen if we attacked Iran?
BOLTON: I think the consequences would be negative. I think the risks are high.
But again, the alternative is not between the world as it is now versus the use of military force against Iran. It’s the use of military force against Iran versus a world where Iran has nuclear weapons. It would not look at all like Iraq. That’s not the kind of operation that would be required. I wish we weren’t at this point. I think we made a mistake in following four-plus years of European diplomacy. We should have been working much harder, much longer ago to help support the dissident elements inside Iran, which are very substantial. This regime is more fragile than people think it is. And I think that’s actually the preferred result in Iran, is regime change, where a new government - hopefully, perhaps, a democratic government - comes in and says, ”This pursuit of nuclear weapons is really not making us safer. We’re better off giving it up.” We’ve seen that circumstance in countries like South Africa during the transition from the apartheid government to a democratic South Africa. The same possibility exists in Iran.
BOLTON: I think the consequences would be negative. I think the risks are high.
But again, the alternative is not between the world as it is now versus the use of military force against Iran. It’s the use of military force against Iran versus a world where Iran has nuclear weapons. It would not look at all like Iraq. That’s not the kind of operation that would be required. I wish we weren’t at this point. I think we made a mistake in following four-plus years of European diplomacy. We should have been working much harder, much longer ago to help support the dissident elements inside Iran, which are very substantial. This regime is more fragile than people think it is. And I think that’s actually the preferred result in Iran, is regime change, where a new government - hopefully, perhaps, a democratic government - comes in and says, ”This pursuit of nuclear weapons is really not making us safer. We’re better off giving it up.” We’ve seen that circumstance in countries like South Africa during the transition from the apartheid government to a democratic South Africa. The same possibility exists in Iran.
It was on this topic that I wrote my paper for the Iranian MA degree.
(the above portion of an interview with Bolton comes from: C-Span's Q&A, available at: http://www.q-and-a.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1153)
Website of Interest: (the world's smallest political quiz, and as far as I'm concerned, it's completely accurate!....)
In the basement of my office building is the best bakery in the world - and today was my last foreseeable Napoleon cake --- perhaps only for the basement cakes do I wish to stay in Dushanbe! The locals have no idea that the best Tajik cakes are made in the basement of all basements, surrounded by construction materials and rubbish. The first time we appeared in oven rooms asking for cake, I was terrified of what kind of product could come from the basement of this horrid building. Almost every day, I went with Nargis (see above) to find some kind of Napoleon cake or Honey cake...
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