Saturday, November 28, 2009

the bibi freeze

the UN, backed by all security council members, has demanded that iran immediately freeze its uranium enrichment program. i keep waiting for iran to respond by agreeing to the freeze, but add that its freeze will be netanyahu-style.

the israeli government recently announced a "freeze" in settlement construction that doesn't doesn't apply to whatever the israel's decides to call "east jerusalem", doesn't freeze the construction of 3,000 or so projects that were already approved (even though many were approved in anticipation of the current settlement freeze) and which doesn't apply to the construction of public buildings on settlements. (which is how they approved the construction of 28 new buildings at the same time they announced the freeze).

so why doesn't the iranian government announce a "freeze" of uranium production that doesn't apply to its main enrichment facility at natanz, doesn't apply to any processing that is already in progress and doesn't apply to any enrichment for public purposes? they could even call it a "bibi freeze." sure, it isn't everything the west wants, but it's progress, right? no doubt the west will understand the internal pressures the iranian government is facing and view a loophole-filled freeze as a welcome move.