Obama plans nuclear talks to lift threat of proliferation
Britain insists £25bn Trident programme 'not on the table' in March meeting
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G8 leaders and heads of the five fastest developing market economies greet Barack Obama in L'Aquila yesterday
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Barack Obama has called a global summit on reducing the world's stockpile of nuclear weapons which could eventually result in Britain's Trident system being scaled back.
The US President told G8 leaders at their meeting in Italy yesterday that between 20 and 30 nations would be invited to the non-proliferation summit in Washington next spring. He hopes to build on his successful disarmament talks held on Monday with the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev.
The US-led initiative could pave the way for the world to warn Iran and North Korea that they would be treated as "pariah states" unless they stop developing nuclear weapons. The burden of proof would be on countries that are not yet members of the nuclear club to show they had not breached the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, raising the prospect of attempts to send weapons inspectors in if they refused to comply.
Britain will take part in the Washington summit. British officials insisted that Trident would not be "on the table" in March, but confirmed it could eventually form part of the talks if they resulted in a process of multilateral disarmament. They played down the chances of the £25bn Trident programme being axed as part of a drive to cut public spending, saying the "fixed costs" of the four submarines which carry the weapons accounted for the bulk of the budget, so reducing the number of warheads would not save much.
Gordon Brown will publish Britain's proposals for a historic "new deal on nuclear security" in the world in the next few days. He has told Mr Obama that he believes there is a chance of securing a trade-off under which countries promise not to develop nuclear weapons in return for help with developing civil nuclear power.
The Prime Minister told journalists: "Iran is attempting to build a nuclear weapon. North Korea is attempting to build a nuclear weapon. We have got to show we can deal with this by collective action.
"Unilateral action by the United Kingdom would not be seen as the best way. What we need is collective action by the nuclear weapons powers to say that we are prepared to reduce our nuclear weapons, but we need assurances also that other countries will not proliferate them. And we need new kinds of assurances to prevent a situation such as we have got in Iran emerging in exactly the same way again."
At talks in the Kremlin on Monday, the US and Russian presidents agreed to limit their arsenals of strategic nuclear weapons to a range of between 1,500 and 1,675 each and their strategic delivery vehicles to between 500 and 1,100 each . The current maximum levels are 2,200 warheads and 1,600 launch vehicles.
Mr Brown, who said he had submitted proposals to Mr Obama on the issue, added: "There is a possibility of a nuclear deal that we will help countries that are non-nuclear gain access to civil nuclear power and to do it in a way that is safe for the whole of the world, but we want them to agree to tight conditions about non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. We will try at the same time to talk with Russia and America to achieve some reduction in nuclear weapons."
Mr Brown denied that he wanted to treat countries like Iran as "guilty until proven innocent", but insisted that nations signing up to non-proliferation agreements ought to be able to prove that they were complying with them.
He described nuclear proliferation and the danger of nuclear material falling into the hands of terrorists such as al-Qa'ida as "one of the big issues of the world".
He added: "When the Non-Proliferation Treaty was signed there were five nuclear weapons states. Now there are nine and the possibility of Iran, North Korea and others may seek to acquire nuclear weapons and we will have a big rise in nuclear weapons states in this decade. That is a problem for the whole of the world that has got to be addressed."
The G8 summit backed Britain over the detention of nine British embassy staff in Iran, and France over the French lecturer Clotilde Reiss who has been detained for a week in Iran over what Paris describes as allegations of spying. G8 leaders expressed "serious concern" over recent events in Iran, deplored violence against peaceful demonstrators and called on the Iranian authorities to stop the intimidation of foreign missions.
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Comments
"The Prime Minister told journalists: "Iran is attempting to build a nuclear weapon..." Er, last years NIE to the White House on Iran said they were not and have not since 2003, the IAEA say they have not and their only issue with Iran is it needs to answer some questions on certain activities and as far as the IAEA is concerned Iran is being for the most part truthful in its intentions.
What this translates to is... Someone in Israel desperate to get someone else to break Iran's sphere of power, waggles his foot and "Friend of Israel" Gordon Brown dances a little ditty "Iran is going to kill us all doom doom"
Can people not see the craziness of the scheme going on here, the Pentagon and the CIA, however reluctantly have told the White House that Iran has NOT pursued a nuclear weapons programme for six years, even if the Ayatollah said "sod this for a lark, lets build a nuke...", it would take ten years to get a working test model and possibly longer.
What the whole thing is based on, is a planted laptop that the CIA "doped" with dodgy data and got Mossad to pass it to the Iranians via the Pakistanis, who on examination handed it back to the Americans saying "Nice try matey", it is true that the Iranians did have this laptop, it is also unreported that they gave it back, what is being held back is that the data on it is incapable of building nuclear weapons.
"All nuclear powers except the US, Britain and Israel are being told to cut arms" He even knows how many nuclear missiles Israel has; what was the figure, 200? Israel never discusses the subject, never carries out a test, never threatens anyone with a nuclear weapon, but ancientoneuk knows all.
"Someone in Israel desperate to get someone else to break Iran's sphere of power". Perhaps you might enlighten us as to who "someone and someone" are?
"What the whole thing is based on, is a planted laptop that the CIA "doped" with dodgy data and got Mossad to pass it to the Iranians via the Pakistanis" Was this before or after Mossad got at the English bowlers yesterday in Cardiff? Someone did, as they only took one wicket. Got to be the Israelis.
Ancientoneuk knows all, so come on Independent, give him a column next to Robert Fisk. Even Fisk, who lives in Beirut, knows less.
What nuclear weapons? According to ancientoneuk, Iran has none either.
""We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program," reads a declassified version of the National Intelligence Estimate key findings." - ABC News
"Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," states the unclassified summary of the secret report. "Our assessment that the program probably was halted primarily in response to international pressure suggests Iran may be more vulnerable to influence on the issue than we judged previously." Fox News
It is not me that is saying Iran has stopped pursuing a nuclear weapon its the bloody CIA and Pentagon themselves saying it.
As for Israel's some 200 or more nuclear weapons hidden under Dimona in a very special facility, it was the Americans again that dropped them in it...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w
That article sums it quite nicely don't you think? Or why not google it up and see the other media outlets that carried that story, when Carter says he knows Israel has these weapons, it is because he was like other President's part of the process in giving them to them.
Once again laughing at your epic fail...
How do you know? They don't admit it, they don't test them, they don't threaten anybody with them. Iraq has WMD too, didn't you know? The USA said so and your British government agreed. How come nobody asks to inspect Israel's under the threat of sanctions?
I take this from the reference you supply:
"Israel has never admitted having nuclear weapons, let alone how many, although the world assumes their existence. Nor do US officials deviate in public from that Israeli line."
And guiseppesaponi, amongst others, frequently quotes Counterpunch, a well-respected publication, known the world over along with the Ramat Bet Shemesh Bugle. As for Jimmy Carter, aptly he is in the nuts business.
Well, of course not. We don't have a credible PM, we don't have a government committed to its Labour Movement principles (The Labour Party was always heavily represented at CND rallies back in the day) we don't have a capable Chancellor of The Exchequer, we don't have a PM who in any way, shape or form has any intention of dumping his hysterical, unrealistic & unbelievably expensive plans. A pig-headed obdurate, head firmly sunk into the sands of denial, sees fit to spout all the same Bushist canards that have served to bring us all to this sorry pass in the first place. Britain? British Government? Politicians? - I shake my head in despair.
Weapons reduction may only be, for the US and Russia, a dismantling of those weapons which have gone beyond their reliable use. What is certain, is that other, more lethal and less destructive weapons will be in place to annihilate humankind for the future.
I wonder what sort of education system we would have if an extra 25 bn was spent on it. What about health, or even paying off some of our incredible amounts of debt.
Who holds the key to Trident?
The USA! I thought so; Britains not so "independant" nuclear deterrant is not even ours anyway.
Dear Mr Brown, Get Real!
As Israel is a rogue state that has not signed the NPT it means other agencies have to make educated guesses at how many nukes it has but it ranges between 100 and 400.
However, there is little doubt that it has them.
Here is ex premier Ehud Olmert letting the cat out of the bag
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/mid
And here is Zionist historian Benny Morris calling for israel to use them agaisnt non-nuclear Iran
www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/opinion/18mor
And here is a link to an article that ancientoneuk referred to - the planting of fabricated documents by Israel on a supposed "Iranian" laptop
www.counterpunch.org/porter06042009.html
2..Paris describes as allegations of spying.
3..The danger for the West is from terrorist groups such as Al-Qaida.
4 try try try .We will try at the same time to talk with Russia and America to achieve some reduction in nuclear weapons."
5..The ploy.. They played down the chances of the £25bn Trident programme being axed as part of a drive to cut public spending, saying the "fixed costs"
6..Who and who The US President told G8 leaders at their meeting in Italy yesterday that between 20 and 30 nations would be invited
7..where is G2o demo man dead ??over recent events in Iran, deplored violence against peaceful demonstrators and called on the Iranian authorities to stop the intimidation of foreign missions.
8..The new 2023..Gordon Brown will publish Britain's proposals for a historic "new deal on nuclear security" in the world in the next few days.
9..Andrew Grice, Political Editor, in L'Aquila
Have a Taquila on me please ALL BALLS AND F*********s
I thank you
Firozali A. Mulla