Cafferty File

What if U.N. is right about Iran building a nuclear weapon?

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Same old, same old from Iran... we're not seeking nor do we believe in nuclear bombs.
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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says the Islamic Republic's religious beliefs consider weapons of mass destruction to be "symbols of genocide," and therefore they are forbidden.

How different from a draft report from the UN nuclear watchdog suggesting just the opposite. The international atomic energy agency report says Iran may be working secretly on a nuclear warhead for a missile - and lists ways the country has been defying UN orders.

For the first time, the IAEA states concerns that Iran may be trying to develop nuclear weapons right now.

Iran continues to insist its nuclear program is meant only for civilian energy and for medical use. Sort of like, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

The UN keeps passing resolutions against Iran - three so far - and some nations are pushing for another resolution. What do these resolutions mean exactly? I don't understand. Pres. Obama gave Iran a deadline of the new year to show they were making progress. What did that deadline mean exactly? I don't understand.

A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows 6 in 10 Americans think the U.S. should take economic and diplomatic efforts to get Iran to shut down its nuclear program. Haven't we been doing that? Only about a quarter want the U.S. to take immediate military action.

But if diplomacy doesn't work, nearly 60 percent support military action. 71 percent think Iran already has nuclear weapons. Swell.

Here’s my question to you: What now if the U.N. is right about Iran building a nuclear weapon?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

Tim in New York writes:
Military action will only feed the existing resentments towards America’s lack of even-handedness in the region. If we're going to insist that the region be free of nuclear weapons, we'll have to disarm everyone (friend and foe alike). Otherwise, it's just going to add more fuel to an already incendiary "cause."

Joe writes:
If the U.N. is in fact right, then we've all just entered an even more dangerous situation. So much for diplomacy. We need to support the movement within Iran that is looking to change the power structure, but at the same time increase sanctions. We need to make it known that we are friends to Iranians, but not to their leaders and government.

Terry in Indiana writes:
Iran has called for nuclear weapons states to disarm and for the Middle East to be a nuclear weapons free zone. Has this happened? Do they have a right to protect their country? I know the guy running it is crazy-but he’s got a point, doesn't he?

Margie writes:
I wish our government would bite the bullet and deal with Israel's nuclear program, which is also illegal and unregulated… If you look at the problem from the Iranians’ point of view, they need nuclear bombs to protect themselves from Israel in a mutual assured destruction kind of mentality.

Nabeel writes:
I wouldn’t be surprised if the U.N. got the information about Iran building a nuclear weapon from the same place they got the intelligence about WMD in Iraq. Same lies at a different time. For those countries who are yelling the loudest and thumping their chest about Iran, maybe they should handle the problem themselves and leave the U.S. out of it.

Cliff in East Rockaway, New York writes:
At some point, implied threat is the only deterrent. To paraphrase former President Clinton, a nation's best day might be the day that they use a nuclear weapon, but their worst day is the day after.