SENTINEL WATCH January 18, 2010 Issue

PROTECTION FROM NUCLEAR THREATS

ROGER WHITEWAY

FORTUNATELY, OUR COUNTRY never had to use nuclear weapons during the Cold War of the 1970s, but being up close with nuclear weapons as a US Navy carrier attack pilot gave me an appreciation for the responsibility that goes with running any nuclear program—energy or weapons.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's report of its first visit to a previously secret Iranian nuclear enrichment facility details a plant in the advanced stages of construction. According to a November 17, 2009, report on National Public Radio's Morning Edition, Iran plans to install about 3,000 centrifuges at this new facility, purportedly for peaceful purposes.

As regional and world powers use diplomacy to convince Iran not to develop weapons, many are asking what steps we can take as individuals. Must we stand by and watch another nation join the nuclear weapon "club," or can we turn in prayer to know that Iran's leadership will make right decisions that will provide the Iranian people with their energy needs without increasing the probability of another Middle East conflict? Do we need to accept the worldview that nuclear weapons provide a nation with power and prestige that trump science, culture, and peaceful economic growth?