ElBaradei: Investigate Bush for War Crimes

No doubt most Democrats would agree with this maniac.

The former chief U.N. nuclear inspector suggests in a new memoir that Bush administration officials should face international criminal investigation for what he says was their "deliberate deception" on weapons of mass destruction leading up to the Iraq invasion.

The book by the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Mohamed ElBaradei, titled "The Age of Deception," will go on sale next Tuesday.

ElBaradei accuses the Bush team of "grotesque distortion" in the run-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion, when then-President George W. Bush and his lieutenants claimed Iraq possessed doomsday weapons despite contrary evidence collected by U.N. arms inspectors inside Iraq.

Bet your last dollar he'll be invited on all the networks to spew this nonsense.

This is the same nutcase who allowed Iran to go nuclear while he was heading the IAEA.

'ElBaradei Won't Do. He Doesn't Have the Experience Here and He's a Little Weak'

A little weak, indeed. Not to mention a craven opportunist and a stooge for the Iranians. Yet for some reason this tool is being foisted upon the world as possibly the next leader of Egypt, or at least a transitional figure. Be very leery.

Egyptians on the streets of Cairo said on Monday they had reservations about opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, who has offered to act as transitional leader to prepare Egypt for democratic elections.

ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), returned to Egypt on the eve of the protests which swept the country on Friday, when tens of thousands of people called for the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak.

Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the IAEA, ElBaradei and the powerful Muslim Brotherhood said on Sunday he had a mandate from opposition groups to make contact with the army and negotiate a government of national unity.

At least one opposition party, the Arab nationalist Karama Party of Hamdin Sabahi, has rejected ElBaradei outright as a transitional figure, saying he was trying to jump on the bandwagon of the popular uprising.

ElBaradei joined protesters at the hub of anti-Mubarak protests in central Cairo on Sunday.

ElBaradei, 68, began overt opposition to Mubarak on his return to Egypt in February 2010 and won a widespread following among the young and the middle classes.

But the Egyptian authorities harassed his supporters and ElBaradei lost much credibility through his long absences abroad. The official media tried to ridicule him, saying he knew nothing about Egypt and had no political experience.

Some elements of the government's campaign appear to have stuck. "ElBaradei won't do. He doesn't have the experience here and he's a little weak," said Khaled Ezzat, 34, an information technology engineer who had joined the evening vigil in Tahrir Square.

Omar Mahdi, a sales manager, said: "I'm not convinced by ElBaradei, even as a transitional figure, he hasn't really been present in the country."

Some of the protesters objected to ElBaradei on the grounds that he was too close to the United States, despite the frictions between him and the U.S. administration over the Iranian and Israeli nuclear programs when he was head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog body.

"ElBaradei's positions toward other Arab countries, and toward Iran and North Korea, were not neutral... So I don't find him very acceptable," said Walid Abdel-Mit'aal, 36, who works for a public sector company.

"He would follow Mubarak in the same policies and would take U.S. aid," he added, reflecting an anti-American strand which was largely absent in the first four days of protests.

ElBaradei's cosmopolitanism -- he lived abroad for years and speaks fluent English -- may be an advantage among some Egyptians but it is also a source of suspicion among others.

Hard to believe people are suspicious, huh?

Update: Need another reason to be leery of ElBaradei? He's gets a tongue-bath from Mike Lupica today. That should really worry anyone with a clue.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

ElBaradei: 'Nothing To Be Worried About'

The UN's Islamic Atomic Energy Administration head assures us that there is nothing to worry about in regards to that newly reported nuclear facility that was revealed earlier this year. In fact, he makes it sound like some sort of super sized storage unit, all for peaceful purposes don't you know.

ElBaradei was quoted in a New York Times interview as saying his inspectors' initial findings at the fortified site beneath a desert mountain near the Shi'ite holy city of Qom were "nothing to be worried about."

"The idea was to use it as a bunker under the mountain to protect things," ElBaradei, alluding to Tehran's references to the site as a fallback for its nuclear program in case its larger Natanz enrichment plant were bombed by a foe like Israel.

"It's a hole in a mountain," he said.

Since it is apparent that the UN is wholly owned by the Islamic countries, why should we believe ElBaradei when he is trying to downplay the significance of this site?

At some point the Arab neighbors of Iran are going to get nervous enough that they finally give Israel the go ahead. They know better then to turn to the US, with our Procrastinator in Chief, mushroom clouds will be all over the Middle East before Barry O could tear himself away from the golf course to acknowledge the matter.

While we are trying to make nice with Hamas and Hezbollah could somebody school them on what happens in regards to nuclear fallout should the mad mullahs manage to launch a nuke into Israel? Of course it would put an end to this whole two-state solution with Israel and the PLO.

Captain Obvious: Iran Wants Nukes

Glad to see Mr. Potato Head is keeping a sharp eye on those madcap mullahs. Can't slip anything past this one.

Iran wants the ability to build nuclear weapons to gain a reputation as a major power in the Middle East, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said in a BBC interview broadcast Wednesday.

Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Iran sees nuclear weapons as an "insurance policy" against perceived threats from neighboring countries or the United States.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election has cast doubt on Western powers' hopes of a new dialogue with Iran over its nuclear program, which Iran says is peaceful rather than military.

"My gut feeling is that Iran definitely would like to have the technology ... that would enable it to have nuclear weapons if they decided to do so," ElBaradei told the BBC. "It wants to send a message to its neighbors, it wants to send a message to the rest of the world: yes, don't mess with us, we can have nuclear weapons if we want it.

"But the ultimate aim of Iran, as I understand it, is that they want to be recognized as a major power in the Middle East and they are.

ElBaradei must be so proud to have helped them accomplish this goal.

Hot Air links. Thanks!

BTW, since a couple of people have noticed this tool resembles Henry 'Nostrilitus' Waxman, here's one from the archives.

Mr. Potato Head: Obama Offers Hope of 'Saner' World

A 'saner' world of course, where we willingly disarm while our enemies go nuclear, thanks in no small part to the IAEA nuclear watchdog, of course.

UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Thursday that the election of US President Barack Obama had given him hope for a "saner" world for the first time.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) praised Obama's offer of talks with Iran and, in an implicit criticism of former president George W. Bush, said isolating states was always doomed to failure.

ElBaradei told the Davos forum: "For the first time I have started to have some hope that we will start to have a world that is safer, that is saner, that is more humane."

"President Obama has said he is ready to speak to Iran without preconditions," he said during a debate that was broadcast live on US satellite channel CNN. "This is the way to go. It is long overdue."

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that his country was prepared to cooperate with the US but was also waiting for Obama to demonstrate the differences in his policies compared to those of Bush.

A change in policy would result in "a cooperative approach and reaction" in the Middle East "and Iran is not excluded from this general understanding," he said here.

"Obama has courage and should continue his courage and should say in what areas he is against the policies of president Bush," he said.

"Americans talk to the world more than enough already. Now Americans should listen. They should try to listen to the others."

Obama hasn't exactly demonstrated any ability to dispel our new subservience. He might want to start answering this smacktalk from our enemies before his finds his honeymoon over by this weekend.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner also said the Obama administration could work rapidly towards creating a world without nuclear weapons and a number of treaties could be advanced in the next six months, including a ban on nuclear weapons tests.

You can almost envision it. Obama sings a treaty banning nuclear weapons, then the next day Iran tests their nuke.

It would probably guarantee ElBaradei another Nobel Prize.

'I Think So Far the Policy Has Been a Failure'

Stooge

So nice of this tool to acknowledge there's a bit of a problem. Considering he's the last person on the planet to figure out he's failed miserably is no surprise. What, you expect competence from Mr. Potato Head?

The chief of the world's nuclear weapons watchdog organization considers five years of U.S. and international efforts to rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions a failure, as Tehran moves ever closer to obtaining the means to develop weapons of mass destruction.

The United Nations Security Council has imposed three sets of sanctions to try to get Iran to halt uranium enrichment and other activities, while the United States and Europe have offered economic and security incentives. Yet Iran continues acquiring nuclear technology and stockpiling sensitive material.

"We haven't really moved one inch toward addressing the issues," said Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA. "I think so far the policy has been a failure."

The 66-year-old Egyptian diplomat and 2005 Nobel Peace Prize laureate also urged world leaders to address broader unease about security, poverty and perceived injustice rather than zero in on narrow security concerns, such as nuclear weapons.

Narrow security concerns?

Sure, let's address perceived injustice rather than the fact a terrorist state is maybe months from having a nuke.

Now wonder this boob won a Nobel Peace Prize.

Naturally, the stooge basks in the warm glow of Hopenchange.

He said U.S. President-elect Barack Obama gave him "lots of hope" after he inserted a proposal to abolish all nuclear weapons in the Democratic Party platform and advocated opening diplomatic dialogue with rivals.

Funny how nobody in the media made much mention of Obama's insane proposal.

"He is ready to talk to his adversaries, enemies, if you like, including Iran, also [North] Korea," he said, adding that the Bush administration was reluctant to do so. "To continue to pound the table and say, 'I am not going to talk to you,' and act in a sort of a very condescending way -- that exaggerates problems."

Mr. Potato Head's Balls of Fire

The most feckless representative of the world's most useless organization has issued a dire warning.

Funny how this clown operates. A rogue, terror-sponsoring regime promises to wipe another country off the map. The latter nation decides it's in the best interest to be prepared to defend itself.

But no, we can't have that.

Why, that would cause the Middle East to explode into a ball of fire. Except in those places where they're not celebrating, of course.

A military strike on Iran would turn the Middle East "into a ball of fire," said Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency.

ElBaradei made the remarks in an interview aired on Saturday by Al Arabiya TV. The interview comes a day after reports emerged that Israel conducted a large-scale military exercise that the United States believes is in part a message to Iran that Israel has the capability to attack its nuclear program.

"In my opinion, any military strike -- as I mentioned -- is the worst thing that can happen now," said ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"It will make the Middle East turn into a ball of fire. It is a lot worse than having sanctions. A military strike will lead Iran, even if it plans today to manufacture a nuclear weapon, to establish a crash course to speed the process to have the weapon with the blessing of all Iranians, even those living in the West."

They couldn't possibly have gotten this far with this moron helping run interference for them.

This reminds me of the time-honored canard of the left, where if we dared to attack Iraq and remove the monster Saddam Hussein then the Arab street would explode. Which, of course, it never did.

Israel, like the United States and other nations in the West, believes Iran has aspirations to create a nuclear arsenal. Iran says it wants to develop nuclear power for peaceful purposes, namely energy for power lines, and denies it wants to produce nuclear weapons.

Memo to CNN: The rest of Iran's neighbors also believe Iran is trying to go nuclear.

Update: Allahpundit has some video.

IAEA Springs Into Action, Plans to Probe Syrian Nuke Reactor Destroyed Seven Months Ago

Do not fear, Mr. Potato Head is on the job!

Totally laughable, of course. Shouldn't have this alleged watchdog group known of the existence of the Syrian reactor?

If this doesn't expose them as frauds, nothing ever will.

The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog pledged on Friday to investigate what he called serious U.S. accusations that Syria secretly built a nuclear reactor with North Korean help.

Syria, which denies the U.S. allegations, accused the United States of involvement in an Israeli air attack in September that Washington says destroyed the site of an atomic reactor in a remote part of the Arab state.

Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the allegations by U.S. intelligence against Syria would be investigated with due vigor.

"The Agency will treat this information with the seriousness it deserves and will investigate the veracity of the information," ElBaradei said in a statement.

Sure.

Naturally, the schmuck criticizes the United States.

He criticized the United States for not disclosing its intelligence information sooner. Israel should have given IAEA inspectors a chance to investigate any Syrian nuclear activity before bombing the site, he added.

This reactor started going up seven years ago and this supersleuth was totally clueless. Now it's CYA time.

ElBaradei bemoaned Washington's failure to turn the information over to the IAEA on the alleged reactor, said to have been launched in 2001, much earlier to help "enable us to verify its veracity and establish the facts".

"In light of the above, (I) view the unilateral use of force by Israel as undermining the due process of verification that is at the heart of the non-proliferation regime," he added.

What a comedian.

Useless UN 'Watchdog' Fears for Pakistan Nuke Arsenal

The clueless stooge Mohamed ElBaradei, who's twiddled his thumbs while the Iranians move full-steam toward acquiring nulear weapons, now frets that Al Qaeda could seize Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.

Though I'm sure he'll be happy to sit down with them and convince them to only use them for peaceful purposes.

THE head of the UN atomic watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei warned yesterday that al-Qa'ida could use the deepening political and security crisis in Pakistan to seize the country's nuclear arsenal.

"I fear that chaos ... or an extremist regime could take root in that country, which has 30 to 40 warheads," the Egyptian-born Mr ElBaradei told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat.

There has been worldwide concern over the security of Pakistan's nuclear warheads since President Pervez Musharraf imposed a national state of emergency in November.

Mr Musharraf said in December that Pakistan's nuclear weapons were under control.

But in unusual public comments, Mr ElBaradei said he was "worried that nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of an extremist group in Pakistan or in Afghanistan".

The intervention by the UN nuclear chief, on the eve of a visit to Iran, comes amid growing apprehension about the way jihadi militants linked to al-Qa'ida and the Taliban have cut a swath through Pakistan, seeking to take advantage of the country's political turmoil.

The militants are particularly active in remote areas where Pakistan's estimated 50 nuclear warheads are believed to be deployed, though officials in Islamabad have insisted there is no threat to their security or the country's arsenal.

There have been reports of deepening concern in Washington about the safety of the nuclear arsenal.

In her last major interview before her assassination, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto expressed concern that "al-Qa'ida could be marching on Islamabad in two to four years".

Most reassuring.

UPDATE: Here's another comforting thought: New Taliban Leader: More Dangerous Than Bin Laden?

As the Centrifuges Turn

The Iranians continue full steam ahead enriching uranium today while the world's most useless organization, the IAEA, issues another sham report filled with doubletalk and diplospeak.

The report is accompanied by a unique succession of headlines.

Nuclear Agency Says Iran Is Cooperating

IAEA: Iran Not Open About Nuke Program

Uh, which is it?

From the former:

In a report sure to further complicate the U.S.-led drive for additional sanctions against Iran, the atomic watchdog agency of the United Nations has given Iran relatively good marks for its recent cooperation in clearing up suspicions over past nuclear work.

"Iran has provided sufficient access to individuals and has responded in a timely manner to questions and provided clarifications and amplifications on issues raised," the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

From the latter:

VIENNA, Austria (AP) — The U.S. called for new sanctions against Iran after a U.N. report Friday that said the Tehran regime has been generally truthful about key aspects of its past nuclear activities, but is continuing to enrich uranium.

The International Atomic Energy Agency also said restrictions the Iranians put on U.N. inspectors two years ago mean it still cannot rule out that Iran has a secret weapons program, as suspected by Washington and its allies.

So, they cannot rule out the possible existence of a secret program, yet they assure us the Iranians are generally truthful.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Oh, and by the way, these IAEA hacks admit they're totally clueless, incompetent, or quite probably, on the Iranian payroll.

The official acknowledged, however, that the agency remained blind on Iran's present work with new and more modern enrichment technologies that would allow it to enrich uranium at far greater speed and volume than with the outmoded machines the agency is monitoring.

Touching on that, the report said the agency's "knowledge about Iran's current nuclear program is shrinking" because of access restrictions imposed in 2006.

Repeating previous warnings, it said the IAEA "is not in a position to provide credible assurances about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities" unless Iran restores more robust inspection rights to agency experts.

Very reassuring.

The BBC at least knows how to translate, to their credit.

Mixed UN nuclear report for Iran

The UN nuclear watchdog says Iran has supplied transparent data on its past nuclear activities but adds it has limited knowledge of its current work.

The IAEA also found in a report that Tehran was still enriching uranium in defiance of the UN Security Council.

Iran said the report was a clean bill of health but the US said it showed Tehran was not co-operating.

The BBC's Jon Leyne says Iran probably has done enough to fend off any new UN sanctions and has deferred the crisis.

FARS, naturally, suspects pressure on ElBaradei, while IRNA offered their own unique twist on the news.

A move by the US, Britain and France on release of 10 pages of additional questions over Iran's peaceful nuclear program was aimed to counter the constructive cooperation between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog, a diplomat said here Thursday.

Speaking to IRNA on condition of anonymity, the diplomat added that the hasty move indicated that the report by Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei, scheduled to be released Thursday, surprised the three countries.

The unprecedented measure was adopted by London, Washington and Paris because this time ElBaradei strived to present a realistic, rational, legal and non-political report to the IAEA Board of Governors about Iran, he said.

To no one's surprise, the Israelis see right through the farce.

Israel dismissed a report issued by the UN nuclear watchdog agency on Thursday as "unacceptable," claiming it was further proof that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei was pro-Iranian.
...
"This report is unacceptable," Minister of Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman told The Jerusalem Post. "This is further proof of ElBaradei's one-sided and pro-Iranian position."

Outside of the heavy lifting being done by the United States, Great Britain, France and Israel, the rest of the world sits idly by, seemingly unconcerned a rogue state that promises to annihilate Israel is on the cusp of procuring nuclear arms.

To see the IAEA issue one mealy-mouthed report after the next while this occurs is an abomination.

Also at A Tangled Web.

Israel: Dump Incompetent Hack ElBaradei

Only at the UN could someone so clueless still be employed.

Perhaps they'll spring into action once we see mushroom clouds over Tel Aviv.

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz called Thursday for Mohamed ElBaradei to be removed as head of the UN nuclear watchdog, saying he had turned a blind eye to archfoe Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The call for ElBaradei's dismissal comes just days before the International Atomic Energy Agency is due to publish a new report on Iran's nuclear programme, to serve as a key part of further discussions at the United Nations on whether to impose a third set of sanctions on Tehran.

"The policies followed by ElBaradei endanger world peace. His irresponsible attitude of sticking his head in the sand over Iran's nuclear programme should lead to his impeachment," Mofaz told public radio from Washington.

Mofaz, who heads "the strategic dialogue" between Israel and its main ally the United States, held talks on Wednesday with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

ElBaradei raised the ire of many Israeli officials after telling France's Le Monde newspaper that Iran would need "between three and eight years" to develop a nuclear bomb and that there were was no immediate threat.

Of course, now that the Iranians have 3000 centrifuges up and running, ElBaradei is nowhere to be found.

Mohamed ElBaradei Was Unavailable for Comment

Of course, Democrats and other weak-kneed appeasers are deathly afraid of taking any measures against Iran.

It's time to ignore what they have to say and take action.

Iran: 3,000 centrifuges fully working

Iran has achieved a landmark with 3,000 centrifuges fully working in its controversial uranium enrichment program, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday.

Ahmadinejad has in the past claimed Iran succeeded in installing the 3,000 centrifuges at its uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. Wednesday's claim was his first official statement that the plant is now fully operating the 3,000 centrifuges.

"We have now reached 3,000 machines," Ahmadinejad told thousands of Iranians in Birjand in eastern Iran, in a show of defiance of international demands to halt the program believed to be masking the country's nuclear arms efforts.

Centrifuges are used in enriching uranium, a process that can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or material for a warhead.

While the clueless ElBaradei is nowhere to be found, former UN chief weapon's inspector, the utterly useless Hans Blix, has resurfaced.

FORMER United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix has warned that Iran's nuclear ambition is more serious than was the case with Iraq in 2003.

Dr Blix delivered the Sydney Peace Prize Lecture last night, saying he was still optimistic the international community could escape the threat posed by nuclear weapons.

But he said that souring relations between the big world powers could raise long-term military tensions.

His comments came as Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the country's nuclear program was "irreversible", voicing continued defiance in the face of possible new international sanctions.

More from Captain's Quarters.

ElBaradei: Hurry Up and Do Nothing On Iran Nukes

I can't decide what's more disturbing about this cretin Mohamed ElBaradei, his recalcitrant and oblivious stance toward Iran and its nuclear program or his eerie resemblance to the odious Henry Waxman.

Still, while both of these pose nightmarish visions, we can at least do something about Iran's nukes, and waiting around for this clown to do anything is futile.

Force is last resort in Iranian crisis: nuclear chief

VIENNA (AFP) - UN atomic energy chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Monday that force should not be used yet to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis, dismissing talk of war as "a lot of hype".

"We need always to remember that use of force could only be resorted to when ... every other option has been exhausted. I don't think we are at all there," the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general told reporters.

"There is a UN charter and there are rules for the international use of force.

"I hope everybody would have gotten the lesson after the Iraq situation when we see a drama unfolding every day," ElBaradei said, adding that hundreds of thousands of "innocent civilians have lost their lives on the suspicion that a country had nuclear weapons."

Nice to see AFP preface that quote with hundreds of thousands without any reference to such a claim.

Larijani: Iran No Threat to Israel

Now why should anyone be suspicious? Maybe because the book of lies, the Koran, says it's alright to deceive the infidels?

"That Iran is willing to threaten Israel is wrong," Larijani said. "We pose no threat and if we are conducting nuclear research and development we are no threat to Israel. We have no intention of aggression against any country."

Curious how nowhere in this propaganda piece disguised as news the words of the maniac Ahmadinejad are even mentioned. You know, when the hairy little freak keeps threatening to wipe Israel off the map.

Now this part would be laughable if it weren't so pathetic.

The IAEA, led by Mohamed ElBaradei, has said it has found no evidence that Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. But the watchdog has suspended some aid to Iran and criticized the country for concealing certain nuclear activities and failing to answer questions about its program.

Bombs Link Iran to Iraq Extremists

Time for retaliation, no?

Serial numbers and other markings on bombs suggest that Iranians are linked to deadly explosives used by Iraqi militants, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday in some of the administration's first public assertions on evidence the military has collected.

While the Bush administration and military officials have repeatedly said Iranians have been tied to terrorist bombings in Iraq, they have said little about evidence to bolster such claims, including any documents and other items collected in recent raids in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the trashtalk continues.

A top Iranian cleric said on Friday the United States was within Iran's "firing range", a day after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to hit back at US interests worldwide if attacked.

"Americans have surrounded us but it works to our advantage. They are within our firing range in the east, west and elsewhere," Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said in his Friday prayer sermon carried live on state radio.

He was referring to the US military presence in neighbouring Iraq and Afghanistan as well as in the Gulf waters off southern Iran.

"Would you dare to violate Iranian borders? See what harm will be done to you then," said Jananti, who heads the hardline electoral watchdog the Guardians Council.

Give them what they're begging for.

Meanwhile, another useful idiot speaks.