IAEA Chief Warns Against Striking Iran

[Ghost in the Machine]

IAEA Chief Warns Against Striking Iran
Published: 9/17/07, 8:45 AM EDT
By GEORGE JAHN

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Invoking the war in Iraq, the chief U.N. nuclear inspector criticized talk of attacking Iran as "hype" on Monday, saying the use of force should only be considered as a last resort and only if authorized by the U.N. Security Council.

"I would not talk about any use of force," said Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in an indirect response to French warnings that the world had to be prepared for the possibility of war in the event that Iran obtains atomic weapons.

Saying only the U.N. Security Council could authorize the use of force, ElBaradei urged the world to remember Iraq before considering any similar action against Iran.

"There are rules on how to use force, and I would hope that everybody would have gotten the lesson after the Iraq situation, where 70,000 innocent civilians have lost their lives on the suspicion that a country has nuclear weapons," he told reporters.

He was alluding to a key U.S. argument for invading Iraq in 2003 without Security Council approval_ that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear arms. Four years later, no such arsenals have been found.

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[malaise]

1. K & R

I hope the UN has more balls this time around.

[Roland99]

2. Seconded!!

[ProdigalJunkMail]

3. the UN has absolutely ZERO balls... n/t

[Ghost in the Machine]

4. kick