Belshazzar

The midnight hour was soon to come;
In peace and quiet laid Babylon.
Only in the King's palace, up there,
His followers rejoice, the torches flare.
Belshazzar, up there in the royal hall,
Was holding a royal feast with them all.
The vassals sat in rows that shine,
They emptied goblets of sparkling wine.
The goblets clinked, the vassals cheered;
The stubborn King was seemingly pleased.
The King's cheeks glow like fire, at once;
The wine helps grow his defiant arrogance.
And this defiance carries him away, blindly;
And with a sinful word he blasphemes the divinity.
And he boasts insolently and blasphemes wildly;
The host of vassals roars approvingly.
The King called with a haughty glance;
The servant hurries and returns at once.
On his head he bore many vessels, golden,
That were, from Jehovah's temple, stolen.
And the King seized with his impious hand
A sacred cup filled up to the rand.
And he empties it to the bottom hastily,
And with a foaming mouth, he shouts loudly:
Jehovah! For thee I proclaim my eternal scorn.
I am the King of Babylon!
But hardly had the terrible words rung out,
When the King felt a secret fear in his heart.
The piercing laughter died away suddenly;
The stillness in the hall became deathly.
And look, look! On the white wall over there,
A human hand appears, coming from no where;
And wrote, and wrote on the white wall letters of fire
And wrote again, then proceeded to expire.
The King sat there, gazingly staring,
Deathly pale, his knees were shaking.
The host of vassals sat coldly terrified,
They sat very still and made no sound.
The magicians came, but none of them all
Could interpret the flaming writing on the wall.
But Belshazzar, with all his might
Was slain by his vassals, that very night.

Heinrich Heine


“Iran does not currently have nuclear weapons, and would appear to be about two years away from acquiring nuclear weapons. By sometime in 2006, however, Iran could be producing fissile material for atomic bombs using both uranium enriched at Natanz and plutonium produced at Arak. The Natanz facility might produce enough uranium for about five bombs every year, and the Arak facility might produced enough plutonium for as many as three bombs every year.
If Iran did acquire atomic bombs, it would put pressure on other countries in the region do the same. Many Arab countries believe it is unfair that Israel has nuclear weapons. If Arab countries, notably Saudi Arabia but also Egypt and possibly Syria, found themselves caught between a nuclear-armed Israel and a nuclear-armed Iran, it would greatly increase pressures to pursue their own nuclear options. This could result in a regional arms race in the Middle East which is likely to be quite destabilizing, given the number and intensity of conflicts and instabilities in the region. “

globalsecurity.org