To the Point

Iran, Diplomacy and the Military Option

Iran is adamant about research that could lead to nuclear weapons, so Western Europe is no longer playing "good cop" to America's "bad cop." In just two weeks, the International Atomic Energy Agency's policy board will meet to decide if Iran should be referred to the UN Security Council. Israel is the latest nation asking Russia to approve in advance a package of sanctions if Iran continues the research program that could lead to nuclear weapons. Even if Russia and China go along, Iran says it'll retaliate against any sanctions the UN might impose. Meantime, US Senators of both parties say the "military option" should be on the table. Will Iran back down if it thinks the threat of attack is real? What diplomatic alternatives are not being explored? Have the western nations picked a fight they can't win? Making News: High Court Sidesteps a Major Abortion RulingSandra Day O'Connor may have written her last opinion as a Justice of the US Supreme Court. Today, she was author of that rare thing, a unanimous decision on an abortion case. USA Today's Joan Biskupic, author of Sandra Day O'Connor: How the first Woman on the Supreme Court became Its Most Influential Justice, has more on today's decision and O'Connor's legacy.Reporter's Notebook: Next Stop, PlutoAfter high winds and a power outage, New Horizons is now scheduled for launch tomorrow. It will be the fastest spacecraft ever, traveling at 47,000 miles an hour, powered in part by 24 pounds of Plutonium. Even at that rate, it will take 10 years to travel three billion miles to Pluto, which is either a planet or a part of the Kuiper Belt, thought to be debris from solar system's creation. MIT planetary scientist Rick Binzel is a New Horizons science team member.