US Trying To Oust IAEA Head - Again

By Cernig

One of the many moves made to reinforce the narrative that the West had to invade Iraq in pursuit of Saddam's phantom WMD's was an attempt to discredit and remove the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed el-Baradei. Now, as the war-drums pound ever louder for an attack on Iran, the Bush administration is working back through the checklist that served so well last time - and has reached the point on the list that says "weaken the IAEA's credibility".

The U.S. wants to lodge a formal complaint against the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency over suggestions that Iran be allowed to keep some elements of its uranium enrichment program, diplomats said Tuesday.

They said this was because of fears that such a concession could undermine U.N. Security Council attempts to pressure Tehran to fully scrap enrichment. The diplomats, who demanded anonymity because of the delicate nature of the issue, spoke to The Associated Press before the release of a report from IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei that could act as a trigger for a third set of Security Council sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear defiance. Their comments on the issue revealed a hardening of positions on how to deal with Iran's determination to expand its enrichment program, a potential pathway to nuclear arms.

Last time out, the Bushies even tapped el-Baradei's phone in a vain attempt to oust him from a position where he could be an obstacle to their narrative for war. Of course, he turned out to have been right and the Nobel committee acknowledged the fact. That won't stop the Bushies, who obviously believe, with some justification, that the media and the public have an attention span measured in nanoseconds.