U.S. Quietly Tries to Replace U.N. Nuclear Agency Chief
The Associated Press via truthout
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/01/09/Worldandnation/US_quietly_tries_to_r.shtml
Sunday 09 January 2005
Vienna - He's running unopposed, but Mohamed ElBaradei still may fail in
his bid for a third term leading the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, tripped by
his main opponent, the United States.
Unable to find a candidate willing to oppose the independent-minded
Egyptian diplomat, Washington is now quietly lobbying other member states in
ElBaradei's International Atomic Energy Agency in a bid to unseat him by June,
opening the way for a replacement more to the Bush administration's liking -
one harder on Iran and other nations on the U.S. nasty list.
With the agency spearheading international attempts to squelch nuclear
proliferation, who controls the IAEA is key for Bush administration officials.
They want someone sharing their view of which country represents a nuclear
threat and what to do about them.
ElBaradei has challenged those views - particularly over prewar Iraq and
Iran, both labeled part of an "axis of evil" with North Korea by President Bush.
He first disputed U.S. assertions that Saddam Hussein had an active
nuclear weapons program - claims that remain unproved. He then refused to
endorse assertions by Washington that Iran was working to make nuclear weapons.
Tehran says its nuclear program is for generating electricity.
A direct U.S. attempt to unseat ElBaradei fizzled late last year, with
Americans unable to find anyone to challenge his bid for a third term by the
Dec. 31 deadline.
Since then, the nuclear power struggle has moved underground, but even
before Dec. 31 much of it was cloak and dagger, including reported wiretaps of
ElBaradei's phone conversations in attempts to show he was demonstrating
favoritism toward Iran in his investigation of its nuclear activities.
Diplomats accredited to the Vienna-based IAEA say America has a new
candidate in the wings who will be presented if the United States swings enough
nations on the IAEA board of governors to back its demand for a no-confidence
vote on the incumbent.
ElBaradei himself appears to be taking the campaign for his ouster in
stride. "Member states have asked me to continue to serve," he told the AP. "I
see that as confidence in my stewardship."
To oust ElBaradei, Washington must find backing from 12 other nations on
the 35-nation IAEA board of governors. It already can count on traditional
allies Canada and Australia and several others, and diplomats say it hopes to
sway enough others from Europe to get the required number.
The key players include former Soviet bloc nations like Hungary, Poland
and Slovakia, all board members with strong post-communist loyalties to
Washington.
Other potential supporters are Western European countries now sitting on
the fence on whether to back ElBaradei.
Also crucial is whom Washington has waiting in the wings. With candidates
from nuclear weapons stations unwanted in the job, he is unlikely to be
American, and diplomats say they are skeptical that the Bush administration can
put forward anyone who will find broad acceptance from what is generally an
America-skeptic IAEA board.
On the Web: Read more about the International Atomic Energy Agency at
www.iaea.org.
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Third World Traveller
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/TWTwebsite_INDEX.html
"If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and
owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in
their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will
control ourselves."
Howard Zinn, historian and author
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