Former Marine intelligence officer and UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, who opposes the war in Iraq, told a Yale audience on Thursday that the U.S. may be about to make as serious a mistake in Iran.
Ritter, who has not been a weapons inspector since 1998, said he does not believe Iran poses a significant nuclear threat because its uranium ore is contaminated with molybdenum, which is extremely difficult to remove and blocks valves and piping during the enrichment process.
"[Inspectors] are finding all the data necessary, but the political powers that be don't care about disarmament and nonproliferation," he said. "They have other policy objectives, namely regime change."
Unfortunately for Ritter, the facts speak differently. We're confident that IAEA D-G Mohamed ElBaradei would disagree as to being afforded all the data necessary, as he has expressed his frustration that after three years of intensive Agency verification, the IAEA still cannot conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran.
On Iraq, Ritter said the antiwar movement lacks organization and focus on the main issues, in turn imperiling the success of what he sees as a just cause. "This is a struggle we as a nation can't afford to lose," he said.
UPDATE 4/7 @ 10:34am: Today in Madrid, ElBaradei said that "There are still a number of outstanding issues in Iran that we need to clarify. The picture is not very clear, instead it is very hazy... We have seen issues that we need to understand, before we can say we are satisfied that all activities in Iran are exclusively for peaceful purposes."
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