UN sanctions Iran

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/12/23/un.iran.ap/index.html

Because Iran has failed to comply with the demands of the IAEA for transparency in its nuclear program, the UN has enacted its first salvo of sanctions against the nation, prohibiting the sale of nuclear technology and material to Iran.  Iran, obviously, is pissed off, claiming the US and the UN are using a double standard, as they have entirely ignored Israel's confirmed possession of at least 200 nuclear warheads.  Nevertheless, these sanctions are a reminder from the UN that Iran is a party to the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty and should abide by it.

Let us all speculate about the shitstorm that will come in the following months and years.

Ayn Rand on Israel (Ford Hall Forum lecture, 1974)

 

Q: What should the United Sates do about the [1973] Arab-Israeli War?

 

AR: Give all the help possible to Israel. Consider what is at stake. It is not the moral duty of any country to send men to die helping another country. The help Israel needs is technology and military weapons—and they need them desperately. Why should we help Israel? Israel is fighting not just the Arabs but Soviet Russia, who is sending the Arabs armaments. Russia is after control of the Mediterranean and oil.

 

Further, why are the Arabs against Israel? (This is the main reason I support Israel.) The Arabs are one of the least developed cultures. They are typically nomads. Their culture is primitive, and they resent Israel because it's the sole beachhead of modern science and civilization on their continent. When you have civilized men fighting savages, you support the civilized men, no matter who they are. Israel is a mixed economy inclined toward socialism. But when it comes to the power of the mind—the development of industry in that wasted desert continent—versus savages who don't want to use their minds, then if one cares about the future of civilization, don't wait for the government to do something. Give whatever you can. This is the first time I've contributed to a public cause: helping Israel in an emergency.