Iranian nuclear program: defiance or emulation?

In the New York Times today, an article reiterated the continuing debate regarding the Iranian government and its pursuit of nuclear technology. One year today, Iranian President Ahmadinejad declared national nuclear technology day in celebration of country's successful trial with a uranium power plant. Along with Iran's growing success with nuclear power there has also been a growing criticism and fear of misuse of the nuclear technology. Leading a number of disgruntled nations, the United States has actively sought to end the nuclear threat posed by the Axis of Evil member.

If Iran continues to turn a deaf ear to the international community, a military contingent may be a possible response from the U.S. But I find it ironic that the United States is the leading opponent to this nuclear expansion. This country has been pointing out that Iran's defiance of U.N. resolutions as a sign of its commitment toward nuclear armament, but who are we in the position to point fingers and make judgments when we ourselves defied the U.N. and invaded Iraq? It seems that people have forgotten what happened following 9/11. The U.S. government associated Iraq as one of the responsible actor without credible evidence and and used this fabricated story as a reason to declare war. Perhaps Iran is trying to produce uranium warheads, but maybe they're not. We don't know for sure. Until there is credible evidence, we can't act on the notion of "preemptive strike."

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