Nuke Freeze?

Iran continues to prove that it has absolutely no intention of freezing its nuclear program, despite the new agreements with the EU-3. Just a week after agreeing to freeze their program - and then the next day trying to exclude part of the program from the freeze - they have stated that they plan to restart enrichment activities again soon. It should be clear to everyone that Iran will not stop until they acquire nuclear weapons, no matter what agreements they make. At this point, I don't think that even the EU-3 believe that Iran will stop. Michael Ledeen defined this behavior for what it really is - appeasement. He believes there are two main reasons for this:

They have huge financial interests tied up with the Iranian regime (billions of dollars worth of oil and gas contracts, plus other trade agreements, some already signed, others in the works); and Iran is the last place in the Middle East where they can play an active diplomatic role. This is particularly acute for France, which knows it will long be a pariah to free Iraqi governments, and views Iran as its last chance to thwart America's dominant role in the region. Sad to say, there is no evidence that the Europeans give a tinker's damn either about the destiny of the Iranian people, or about Iran's leading role in international terrorism, or about the Islamic Republic's joining the nuclear club. They are quite prepared to live with all that.

At the same time, they hope that Israel will do something about it; and then, of course, they can once again condemn Israel.

When they whisper that thought to themselves in the privacy of their own offices or the darkness of their own bedrooms, they mentally replay the Israeli bombing of the nuclear reactor in Osirak, Iraq, in 1981, an attack they publicly condemned and privately extolled. They would do the same tomorrow, sighing in relief as they tighten the noose around Israel's neck. Rarely has the metaphor of the scapegoat been so appropriate: the burden of our sins of omission loaded onto the Israelis, who are then sacrificed to atone for us all.

The only hope left is that the Bush Administration will do something about Iran. A confrontation is inevitable and as in every other confrontation Europe will be on the sidelines. For a group of countries that want to think of themselves as a superpower, they are all incredibly powerless and gutless. And once again its High Noon.