Good Friends, Terrorizing Enemies

There it is again, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service most recent assessment of Iran warning of its pursuit of nuclear weapons capability. UN IAEA inspectors have not yet divulged their findings from their most recent inspection of the Republic's nuclear facilities, but it is unlikely that they will ultimately report anything that will relieve the international community of its deep concerns with respect to Iran's intentions.

The heavily redacted CSIS document that was revealed through special request under the Access to Information Act points directly to the country's fixation to produce nuclear weaponry. The more the international community attempts to make an impression on the country's leading Ayatollahs, the more neurotic, paranoid, defensive and offensive the statements issued out of Tehran become.

Blame for the situation Iran now finds itself in, with the sanctions finally strangling its finances, attributed largely to the unjust and malign influence of the United States, and its lackey, Israel, characterized as a cancer which must be 'cut'. Iran is determined to destroy Israel on its own, as it has threatened repeatedly to do, but it is prepared to support any other country or militia that would like to give it a try.

While it is certainly true that mysteriously violent events have taken place in Iran, with the assassination of leading nuclear physicists dedicated to the country's nuclear program, and the explosions at nuclear installations, little wonder the mullahs are neurotic. Diplomacy hasn't seemed to help the belligerent Republic to address the world's concerns about its plans with the courtesy of a useful response. So Stuxnet and other viruses have been launched, and the spectre of sudden death.

"The fact that Iran has engaged in activities related to nuclear weaponization suggests that it is, at a minimum, seeking to acquire the capacity to produce such a weapon", reads the CSIS report. Canada's Prime Minister is fairly blunt about the situation, commenting that Tehran was "lying" with respect to its entirely peaceful nuclear intentions.

Prepared to launch himself and a trade mission to China in a few days' time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, while exploring the opening of wider trade negotiations, mostly relating to Canada's oil production and export, is not shying away from his intention to speak directly to China about the need to support United Nations' sanctions against Iran.

Increased business with Canada's second-largest trading partner and the benefits that accrue to both countries as a result, each fulfilling a need for the other to result in ongoing prosperity for both is important, but does not exceed in importance, for Canada, an assurance that its moral compass is on track.

"We've always been very clear that when it comes to all countries, and particularly dealing with an emerging superpower like China, that a relationship be balanced across the range of issues. There are not just economic and trade issues when it comes to the Chinese relationship. There are also security issues, and there are also human rights and democratic issues", explained the Prime Minister during a recent interview.

"To suggest anyone has an easy solution would be false, I don't have an easy path forward but I think we need to understand we have got a regime based in Tehran that is a gross violator of human rights; that is based on an extreme fundamentalist version of its particular religion; that makes threats to its neighbours; and, that is clearly and unequivocally moving towards, not just the production of nuclear weapons, but acquisition of delivery systems for nuclear weapons. this is a very dangerous situation."

The new satellite that Iran launched last week used technology readily converted to the launching of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Testing the ballistics missile capabilities through the launching of a satellite is one way of averting suspicion that the same technology can be used to launch a nuclear-tipped missile a long, long way. But not to worry, this satellite has been named "Promise of Science and Industry", designed for data collection and weather monitoring.

	The purported launching of a Shahin missile during war games in Iran.
	Photo by: AP

And lest any suspicious minds overwork themselves into a tizzy of frantic anticipation, take heart from the fact that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that jolly giant of goodwill on the world stage, has expressed his personal hope that "this act will send a signal of more friendship among all human beings." Israel, of course is exempt from that since it does not represent a population of human beings, but of a "cancer".

Canada subscribes to another version of the world of brotherhood and peace. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, during an interview with the Jerusalem Post, described Canada as Israel's greatest friend in the world: "I think the U.S. is a good friend, too. I like to think we are better", he explained. Canada, he said further, has "set the gold standard for support of the Jewish state".