Finding God in a Dog

Iran Icebreaker Set at UN.

Am I to understand that peace is breaking out between Iran and the United States in the wake of the Syria crisis?

Meanwhile the White House says that the Syrian government's disclosure of their WMDs is "surprisingly complete."

What the fuck?!?

Someone really doesn't like Iranian industry.

"Iran disconnected computer systems at a number of its oil facilities in response to a cyber attack that hit multiple industry targets during the weekend. A source at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) reportedly told Reuters that a virus was detected inside the control systems of Kharg Island oil terminal, which handles the majority of Iran's crude oil exports. In addition, computer systems at Iran's Oil Ministry and its national oil company were hit."

This isn't the first time that a virus has been used to sabotage Iranian facilities: Stuxnet is infamous for infecting and severely compromising uranium enrichment in 2010. This is the first time that the target has been unquestionably economic. Shutting down Iranian oil production would bring the Iranian economy to a halt, and probably lead to the ouster of the Iranian government. It might also spark a worldwide economic crisis as oil prices spike, not to mention change the directions of American, European, and MENA politics during some rather delicate times. (Remember: the conventional wisdom is that Obama's chances of re-election are tied to the health of the American economy.)

I have my suspicions as to who was behind this attack. FYI, for the reasons stated above, I'm thinking it's not the US government. Despite some recent rather spectacular failures, they rather like the Pax Americana. Nope, I'm thinking the actor behind this attack is someone who sees Iran as an existential threat, such that chaos in the world economy is a small price to pay. Draw your conclusions from there.

This is a step in the right direction:

US President Barack Obama has signaled Tehran that the Washington would accept an civilian nuclear program in Iran if Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei can back up his recent claim that his nation “will never pursue nuclear weapons,” the Washington Post reported Friday.

This opens the door for Iran to continue to pursue nuclear power with the understanding that there will be hell to pay if Iran pursues nuclear weapons. It goes a long way towards easing the tensions that have so far indicated that war with Iran was ahead.

It also means, frankly, that the GOP now have plenty of ammunition to go after Obama as being "weak on Iran." Like it or not, a lot of Americans would be happy to see Iran bombed into the stone age. So this has now become a major election issue.

Note this well, dear reader:

IAEA has found that Iran has been enriching Uranium to about 20% U235 - energy grade, for use in reactors only. This is according to an IAEA report from Feb 2010.

This is a far cry from the 80+% that's needed for contemporary nuclear weapons. That last 60% represents a LOT of work - way more than Iran is probably capable of right now considering economic sanctions, inspections, and a very impressive campaign of sabotage. Thus it should come as no surprise that IAEA has found, thus far, no evidence that Iran has been able to enrich uranium much past the 20% U235 point.

Keep this in mind, because facts like this one will become very important in the next few months.