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from the We-have-always-been-at-war-with-Eurasia dept.
Iran Doesn't Have a Nuclear Weapons Program. Why Do Media Keep Saying It Does?
When it comes to Iran, do basic facts matter? Evidently not, since dozens and dozens of journalists keep casually reporting that Iran has a "nuclear weapons program" when it does not—a problem FAIR has reported on over the years (e.g., 9/9/15). Let's take a look at some of the outlets spreading this falsehood in just the past five days:
Business Insider (10/13/17): "The deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), aims to incentivize Iran to curb its nuclear weapons program by lifting crippling international economic sanctions."
New Yorker (10/16/17): "One afternoon in late September, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called a meeting of the six countries that came together in 2015 to limit Iran's nuclear weapons program."
Washington Post (10/16/17): "The administration is also considering changing or scrapping an international agreement regarding Iran's nuclear weapons program."
CNN (10/17/17): "In reopening the nuclear agreement, [Trump] risks having Iran advance its nuclear weapons program at a time when he confronts a far worse nuclear challenge from North Korea that he can't resolve."
The problem with all of these excerpts: There is no documentation that Iran has a nuclear weapons program.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Monday October 23 2017, @07:14AM
Why the scare quotes? North Korea has actually detonated several nuclear bombs. And in the worst case, where the NK leadership is going to die anyway (say because they're on the losing side of a revolt), it's one way to guarantee that your successors pay dearly for it (either with a direct attack by nukes or by the retaliatory strike from whoever you hit). I think aside from a few die-hard communists, there's little disagreement that the NK leadership is the most detached from reality in the world. It wouldn't make sense to treat their thinking as a normal person, particularly if they become very desperate.
It's also worth remembering that in any large-scale nuclear war, the best defense is to attack before your nuclear forces are destroyed by a first strike. At that point, false alarms, particularly from parties that have at most a few minutes to make decisions (such as Iran or Israel deciding whether they're being attacked by the other side), can be very deadly.