I learned while reading the Los Angeles Times that the Russian President, Vladimir Putin has been openly showing support for the Iranian nuclear program.
According to Putin, "'Russia is the only country that has assisted Iran in implementing its peaceful nuclear program. We believe all countries have the right to a peaceful nuclear energy program" (LA Times).
I find this move by Putin odd, yet not surprising since only a few days ago during a meeting with U.S. officials, Putin dismissed plans for a missile defense system. So, my point is that I really think that this is a bad move for Putin. He has already made anti-U.S. public statements in the past and by now befriending Iran, American relations can only worsen. Apparently though, Putin really doesn't care what we think.
According to Dimitri K. Simes, president of the Nixon Center, "'In case you haven't noticed, Russia doesn't have a lot of friends. Putin is looking for friends and strategic alliances where he can find them'" (LA Times).
The United States and Paris have strongly shown their beliefs to be that Iran should not be developing a nuclear program for the possible threat of Ahmadinejad using the program for weapons. I really just wanted to bring to attention the fact that now Iran is getting support from a country like Russia. As mentioned, Putin really has been doing his best lately to not get along with the United States. This is simply a bad decision for him to make and our relations with Russia will only worsen from this. It is upsetting to see relations worsen between countries like Iran and Russia that are willing to develop new nuclear facilities against the will of other nations like France and the United States. I believe this quote from the LA Times really sums up this issue.
“There’s a lot of symbolism involved because Putin is the only high-level leader from a significant country who is personally engaged on the nuclear issue.”
4 comments:
As an American citizen I agree that Putin is making some dumb choices, what he should be doing really is siding with us because there is so much more to gain that way. On the other hand, I noticed the quote saying that nuclear arms in that nation shouldn't be created because it is against the will of other nations. I'd just like to say don't you think our actions are agaisnt the will of most of the countries of the world? So, what makes our actions any more justified than thiers, after all we are so hypocritical, we tell other nations they can't produce nukes while we hold the most in the world.
Keep in mind that I am not as an active follower of politics as you are, but I will try to state my opinion on this issue as well. John Malloy makes a good point that the United States is the superior power in terms of military and we own at blowing things up. The fact that people are siding with each other in supporting a build of nuclear power base is not the best thing for the world at the moment. I think that we have a lot of other issues to worry about that a nuclear war is just a stupid idea and people shouldn't even be making nuclear bombs due to the fact that it could obliterate the planet.
In a strange way, Iran does have a right to have nuclear weapons if everyone else is going to have them (security of the country). If America wants to see any significant change in the world dealing with nuclear weapons, we need to be the first ones to get rid of our own nuclear weapons. If we want to see other nations stop researching/producing nukes, we need to get rid of ours first. However, the more nuclear weapons technology being produced, the more frightened I become of a nuclear accident happening and the world being destroyed. It really is a terrifying thought. By the way, I'm pretty sure we had great relations with Russia until their first president died (I think last year). It really does make me sad that we lost such a strong (temporary) ally. (Since America has no "friends" only "friends with benefits")
Although I maintain that America doesn't deserve the authoritative international-dictator status it has, I don't see how we can allow Iran to conceive a functional nuclear program, even if it's just for reactors. Ahmadinejad has explicitly expressed his conviction to erase Israel (or as many Jews as possible)from the world. Russia isn't the crippled nation in a wheel chair with bloody bandages like it was just after the collapse of the Soviet Union. I read maybe three weeks ago that they had developed the strongest non-nuclear bomb to date, almost as powerful as an atomic bomb. If they were to truly support Iran and to go so far as to provide military aid, it'd be catastrophic.
At the same time, I don't think that we can dismantle our entire nuclear arsenal, though 28,000 bombs are by all means unnecessary. They're our best deterrent to other nations that may otherwise consider an attack that we couldn't effectively retaliate against. Maybe just keep 500? Would that be so hard?
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