Office of the Independent Blogger

Tony Snow has resigned his post as Press Secretary, effective September fourteenth. Can’t say I blame him!

Take a look at this, Dear Reader, and figure it out.

Iran’s president claimed Sunday that his country is now running 3,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium for its controversial nuclear program _ a long-sought Iranian goal. The claim contradicted a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Thursday that put the number much lower _ at close to 2,000. The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency said enrichment had slowed and Iran was cooperating with its nuclear probe, which could fend off calls for a third round of sanctions.

“The West thought the Iranian nation would give in after just a resolution, but now we have taken another step in the nuclear progress and launched more than 3,000 centrifuge machines, installing a new cascade every week,” Ahmadinejad told a group of students in remarks carried by the state television Web site. Iran previously announced operating 3,000 centrifuges in April, but the IAEA said at the time that Iran had only 328 centrifuges operating at its underground Natanz enrichment facility in central Iran.

In the latest report, drawn up by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, the organization put the number of centrifuges enriching uranium in Natanz at close to 2,000 with another 650 being tested. The 2,000 figure is an increase of a few hundred of the machines over May, when the IAEA last reported on Iran. Still the rate of expansion is much slower than a few months ago, when the country was assembling close to 200 centrifuges every two weeks.

First question: whose estimate do you believe? Second: is Iran trying to force the West into invading? (1. The CIA’s. Barring theirs, the UNs. 2. They might be trying to goad us into some sort of attack, but they know that they couldn’t handle an invasion.)

Final question (on a different note): “Is Fred Thompson Made of Presidential Material?” Yes, it’s about the Senator and actor. It asks if he has the hunger for the Presidency, because he’s so lazy and laid back.

Ronald Reagan, you’ve got a problem.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 2nd, 2007 at 9:51 am and is filed under Outside Retort (Current Affairs).