Pieces of Paper

Iran has taken another step in its determined quest to develop nuclear weapons.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog confirmed on Tuesday that Iran had broken U.N. seals at the Natanz uranium enrichment plant, setting the stage for a showdown between the Islamic republic and the West.

"The Iranians have begun removing (U.N.) seals at Natanz in the presence of IAEA inspectors," said a spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.

"We are in contact with our inspectors in Iran and once we get the full details we will report these to the (agency's) board of governors today."

She said she had no further details. One European Union diplomat told Reuters on Monday Iran intended to begin producing nuclear fuel using 164 centrifuges at Natanz.

The UN had placed seals on this plant. Why would Iran feel bold enough to break those seals, if the seals represented the full weight and authority of the UN? Wait, I think I just answered my own question.

I don't know exactly how this plant was "sealed". The seals were probably not simple pieces of paper. (Slate had an informative article last August on the nature of UN seals.)

But, the seals could just as well have been paper. They have no power to stop anything. They can't stop a bullet, they can't stop a tank, they can't stop an oppressive regime bound and determined to get nuclear weapons.

The only power a seal has is in the will of the UN to enforce it. Paper means nothing.

Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich waving a piece of paper, saying it represented "peace in our time". That statement was born of wishful thinking, but orphaned by reality.

Hitler and Stalin signed a Non-Aggression Pact. That agreement lasted only as long as Hitler needed it. It bought him some time.

Iran's long dance of diplunacy with Europe has simply been an attempt to buy time.

Austin Bay recognizes the nature of the Iranian regime.

Remember, nuclear weapons aren’t the real problem here. It’s the character, psychology, and aims of the men seeking them.

Dr. Zin at RegimeChangeIran has a good roundup of links on this development, including several detailing the protests of the Europeans who let things get this far in the first place. Their bleats have all the full-throated roar of a yapping chihuahua.

Mohamed ElBaradei (hooray! A Nobel Peace Prize winner in our time! We're all saved!) said the "international community" was "running out of patience. Oh, look out Iran, another two or three years of your stonewalling and we might be sort of somewhere in the vicinity of running a little bit low on patience!

Steve Schippert at ThreatsWatch keeps an eye on Iran, and in a post yesterday he summed up the sputterings and spittings from several nations, but pointed out that talk is akin to pieces of paper, it means nothing without a will to act.

The current news cycle is replete with stern sound-bites that make for magnetic headlines. However, looking beyond the highlighted text displays a world still largely reluctant to act or even take a clear and unambiguous stand. Meanwhile, time continues to slip by and Iran continues to draw nearer to becoming capable of producing their own nuclear weapons.

We are seeing with Iran a failure to learn the lesson President Bush tried to teach us next door in Iraq. If you wait till it's too late to stop a tyrant, it's too late. The consequences of failing to act soon enough can be worse than the consequences of taking on the difficult task of confronting tyrants early.

While diplomats sit around tables and try to constrain a tiger with little strips of paper, Iran continues on the path to possessing nuclear weapons.

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