Watchman Warning: 11-24-2013....Start Your Centrifuges

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Start Your Centrifuges
by Hal Lindsey

Saturday, November 23rd, in Geneva Switzerland, the United States of America sent a clear message to the major powers of theMiddle East: “Gentlemen, start your centrifuges.” The contestants were already in place, ready for the order to begin the contest and now they have it. A new atomic weapons race began Saturday in what was already the most volatile part of the world . . . and planet earth will never be the same.

Secretary Kerry told the press that economic sanctions brought Iran to the negotiating table. Later he said that sanctions would no longer work. In other words — they did work, but they don’t work.

But did they really work? What was the goal in imposing sanctions? Was it to bring Iran to the negotiating table, or was it to convince Iran to stop work toward building nuclear bombs? If the latter, then the sanctions have not yet worked, though they showed promise. As the sanctions cut into its economy, Iran began to behave in un-Iranian ways. Good things were happening. But the United States acted like a girl who marries the first boy who shows interest in her. It fell all over itself at the first sign of the tiniest capitulation from Iran.

On Saturday, Charles Krauthammer wrote, “Precisely at the point of maximum leverage, President Obama is offering relief in a deal that is absurdly asymmetric: The West would weaken sanctions in exchange for cosmetic changes that do absolutely nothing to weaken Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.”

President Obama said, “If Iran does not fully meet its commitments during this six-month phase, we will turn off the relief and ratchet up the pressure.”

Would it be that easy? The coalition of sanctioning nations is a fragile one. China wants to buy oil from the Iranians. Russia wants to curry their favor while selling them weapons and more nuclear technology. The Europeans would like to pretend the problem doesn’t exist. Can a lame duck President wave his hand and magically get sanctions reinstated? It seems unlikely.

The president explained that this is a good deal because “Iran must accept strict limitations on its nuclear program.”

Let’s look at one of those limitations. The Iranians agreed to stop building centrifuges, except to replace those that happen to break or wear out. That’s good because they’ve been building them like crazy. But is it really much of a concession? They already have more than 19,000 centrifuges. Think about that number for a moment. Someone said they have more centrifuges than theU.S. has Starbucks. Actually, they have more centrifuges than the U.S. has Starbucks and Taco Bells combined!

In this agreement, Iran will not disassemble any of its centrifuges — zero. Nor will they disassemble their almost completed plutonium reactor. They say they will stop work on it and will not fuel it, but it will stand ready. Its primary purpose is clearly to give them another route to an atomic bomb.

Iran says it will destroy or dilute the uranium it has already enriched to 20%. Yet they also say they have never had any plans to build nuclear weapons. If that’s true, why would they enrich uranium to a level not used in any civilian application? Their only working nuclear power plant needs uranium enriched to just 5%. By the way, they can bring 5% enriched uranium back to 20% in about a month.

What does the U.S. give up? Its leverage. The deal also puts billions of dollars into the hands of the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism. That’s giving up a lot.

How do we know they will comply with what little they've agreed to? John Kerry said, “Iran has agreed to submit its program to unprecedented monitoring.” However, since before this, it submitted to practically no monitoring, “unprecedented” isn’t saying much.

Israeli leaders have been adamant that the agreement creates an existential threat to their nation. But this time, Israel’s not alone. All the best friends of the United States in the Middle East — Muslim and Jew — agree on this. The deal with Iranendangers them all. Secretary Kerry says they’re wrong, and not just a little wrong, but 180 degrees wrong. He used “Israel and the Emirates” as an example, saying they would be safer because of the agreement. Again, an American elite tells people whose situation he does not understand that the thing he’s imposing on them is for their own good.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said, “As soon as the world recognizes Iran’s ‘right to enrich uranium,’ all of the countries in theMiddle East will also talk about their ‘right to enrich uranium.’ At that moment, a crazy nuclear arms race will start that even the worst horror films ever made by Hollywood can’t begin to describe.”

According to Secretary Kerry, “This first step does not say that Iran has a right to enrichment.” He clearly hopes to use that as a carrot in the next round of negotiations, but it may be too late. This agreement, the “first step,” specifically allows Iran to continue its operation of uranium enrichment. Iran interprets this to mean that the world has now endorsed its “sovereign right” to enrich uranium. Their position makes sense.

Obviously, such a “right” would apply to all the countries in the Middle East. Thus, the President has triggered an arms race in a region full of hair triggers, sparks, and short fuses.

Saudi Arabia has pleaded with the Obama Administration to take decisive action to end the threat. They also put in a place a plan for responding to the threat should Washington fail. They won’t wait six months to see if Iran will finally keep its word. Credible reports say that the Saudis have already laid the groundwork to purchase two nuclear bombs from Pakistan. This probably means they will go through with that purchase as quickly as possible.

The mechanism for Armageddon is already in place. Now comes the fuel — the nuclear fuel — that will bring the mechanism to life.

If you don’t reside in the Middle East, you may feel like more of a spectator than a participant in these events. But if you buy gas, turn on lights, or use manufactured products, then you’re right in the middle of this. We can take it another step. If you want peace in your hometown, if you want the buildings, houses, and human beings there to remain intact, this involves you.

Israel’s Economics Minister Naftali Bennett said, “If in five years a suitcase nuclear bomb explodes in Madrid or New York, it will be because of the deal signed this morning.”