The day after W. Bush’s State of the Union the local newspaper, the Goshen Truth, included a short synopsis of key goals and points from the speach. I was scanning over them when I was struck by one of the categories. Titled "Mideast," this section talked about Iran’s nuclear program and the war in Iraq. The icon for this information depicting a man in a ski mask (I’m assuming a terrorist, not a skiier). At first it seems a small thing, but this image associates the entire Mideast with a terrorist! This almost thoughtless association is the type of stereotyping that all to easily leads to unfounded hate and fear. If you intend to talk about terrorism please do, but label your article "Terrorism" instead. Or if you want to talk about the Mideast then maybe a map of the area would be a bit more appropriate. Please Please think through what you are trying to talk about before applying labels!

After seeing this I realized how little I actually know about what’s going on in Iran. Reading world news helps but so much is happening so quickly it is hard to keep up. I decided to look around other blogs to see what my peers were saying. I must say, there were far more people who believe that Iran fully intends to develop nuclear weapons that I expected. Maybe I’m just insanely naive and no country would ever develop nuclear energy without throwing in some military applications. I know that the two technologies are very closely related but what exactly do the "world powers" plan to do? Deny advancement in technology to nations because of possible threat? Iran has signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty just like the vast majority of other nations. That treaty gives it full right to develop peaceful nuclear technology. I especially appreciated the views of Metta Spencer who suggests that the US and other nuclear powers are in fact violating the NPT more than Iran. I tend to agree. Maybe I’m overly optimistic, maybe previous bad blood with Iran is plenty of reason to preempt their development of nuclear technology, but I just don’t see how the US, the UN, or any other group can think that they should have the ultimate authority to decide which countries are allowed which technologies and which must be denied. Especially nonmilitary technology! Ok, enough from me. Oh, and if you want further reading I would suggest this article on Why Iran would want nukes. I may not agree with the conclusions but I can appreciate the perspective

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.