Stuxnet Struck Five Targets In Iran 59
Batblue writes "Researchers at Symantec said that the notorious Stuxnet worm targeted five separate organizations, and attacks against those objectives — all with a presence in Iran — started in June 2009, more than a year before independent experts raised the alarm."
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:No solution (Score:3, Insightful)
You're assuming the US, CIA, or Israel did this. Iran has everything to gain while they're "developing" an atomic bomb; if they actually gain one the US will be forced to plant 3 carrier groups off their coast and bomb them into submission, and they know it. Since Stuxnet set their program back allowing them to continue in the "development" phase, and it gives a talking point to the Iranian government to blame the West for their piss poor economy strengthening their oppressive regime, it seems those who had the most to gain was the Iranian Government. I've always maintained this was a false flag operation.
I mean, what does the US or Israel gain by unleashing stuxnet? If they want to stop the program, it would be far better to attack it. They can't do it as the world will condemn them (because Iran's stance has always been it's a peaceful nuclear power program to solve their energy problems), and while it's in development if they attack it then the various Muslim administrations can use that as a pretext to incite Muslims against the West even more, strengthening those regimes. It's in Israel's and the US's interests for Iran to complete the program, because then Iran is the evil one with WMDs and the West was forced to act in the name of world peace. From the beginning Iran had everything to gain from stuxnet, and the US/Israel had nothing to gain from it.
People don't realize that this atomic weapon program of Iran's has always been an Ace in Iran's hand at the negotiation table, but it's not their only card. What happens if they develop a weapon? On their own, at best it's a low grade device, maybe 3-5 kilotons. And they would likely only get 1 - 3. They'd hurt Israel with that but they wouldn't wipe them out, and then the entire world would turn on them and Iran's government would be no more. However, the threat of developing a weapon has brought the 6 most powerful nations in the world to the negotiation table with them on numerous occasions, and gotten them all sorts of concessions and allowed them to play the major world powers off each other (US, Russia, and China all have different approaches to Iran). This is the same playbook used by Kim Jong Il, and it works beautifully.