Iran, the Professor and I

“Professor, are we going to have another invasion? Isn’t Iraq enough?”

Before answering the Professor looked out the window of the Lear 60 and gestured for me to look. He pointed to several of the Caribbean islands that seemed to have been put together with the same charm and elegance as a necklace of pearls. It was indeed a lovely view.

While I do not like to abandon the pilot’s seat while in flight, traffic to St Thomas Island this morning was scarce so I went back and sat with the Professor, leaving the door to the cabin open and allowing my lovely hostess-secretary and co-pilot to take over. In addition to being a very attractive hostess and invaluable secretary, she is by now an experienced co-pilot. Just to see the back of her lovely head and the instrument panel even from some distance gives me some reassurance. Also it diminishes the guilt associated with breaking a basic flight rule.

The Professor answered:

“It seems to me that invading Iran is employing the same nebulous rhetoric fabricated for the Iraq invasion. Except that this time it is more of a “macho” exercise; it is not the glorious military campaign that George W. Bush was seeking from the moment he was elected hoping to redeem himself before his family and the world from a life of failures and misadventures.”

He took a sip of the Bloody Mary in front of him and continued:

“Iran is a different cup of tea. For one thing, Iran has every right to develop a nuclear power industry as they are doing so within accepted international guidelines and supervision. The major problem is the poor level of understanding and the faulty knowledge of the nuclear industry that pervades our Administration, which seems to ignore or purposely misunderstand the difference between nuclear power and the production of nuclear weapons.”

Keeping my eye on the cabin and watching the slight corrections dictated by the Automatic Pilot, I recalled Vice President Cheneys’s statement about invading Iran; it had been made with such finality that you could almost hear the B-52’s overhead and listen to the frightening swoosh of those Tomahawks leaving the deck of one of the super carriers parked in the Gulf.

“I know what you are thinking” said the Professor. “ The fact that a country installs a small reactor does not necessarily mean that nuclear weapons are next. Nuclear products are widely used in health care, medicine, agriculture, biological and medical research, and a million other uses without the slightest possibility that mushroom clouds will suddenly appear nearby. A basic course on these subjects should be obligatory for the White House, Congress, the Cabinet and everyone in the Administration within reach!”

Another sip of the Bloody Mary and then:

“As far as is known, officially and unofficially, Iran’s present plans deal with development of nuclear power plants as they are aware that their substantial oil reserves will not last forever. The fact that they have done some enrichment does not mean that the next step is a nuclear weapon. It takes years to go that route. Remember that it took North Korea 20 years to make a few pounds of plutonium and Libya about the same, even if this last did not make it beyond some innocent conversions of 238 and 235. Meanwhile, diplomacy and international pressure can make sure that such route is not taken.”

I thought to myself: Where is the mechanism among these nations to resolve these crises? The UN? A neutral corner? This is the kind of situation dear to the members of the American Enterprise Institute staffed by characters that exhibit the same inclinations as Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Newt Ginrich, Fred Thompson and John Bolton; they are probably busy right now working on the simultaneous invasion of Iran and Turkey while Iraq, Afghanistan and Osama continue their deadly festival relatively unperturbed.

I then said: “Yes Professor but if we continue to isolate ourselves from the international community and refuse to follow age old precepts of diplomacy and foreign relations any new reactor installed anywhere is the perfect excuse for black mail on their part and veiled threats and extortion from several directions. Our Vice President made it very clear on October 21that the US would not allow Iran to develop into a nuclear power in the area, confirming once more that international relations remain, on our side, as useless as a Cappuccino without cream, coffee and sugar!” .

The Professor smiled and answered:

“On top of that think of Turkey’s declarations to go into the hills in the Iraqi border and punish those Kurdish Rebel tribes; Cheney’s reaction was immediate. He delivered a threatening message to Turkey disregarding the fact that Turkey is and has been a loyal ally of the US and is a member of NATO. We have the seeds of another conflict. Our Vice President has a very itchy finger on the trigger!”

At that moment, my lovely secretary-hostess-co-pilot, signaled to me to get back to my seat. We were a few minutes from descent and landing. As I was getting up to go to the cabin, the Professor looked at me with a spark in his eyes and sentenced:

“Remember, angels never get distracted when landing!”

I laughed and replied”

“Not to worry, the co-pilot and I have practiced these maneuvers a lot of times!”

Then, I shut the door.