Coblentz has frequently drawn attention to the degree to which non-technological factors , ranging from cultural nuance to geopolitics , have contributed to these crises . He collaborated with ElBaradei on '' The Age of Deception : Nuclear Diplomacy in Treacherous Times '' , a behind-the-scenes account of these nuclear crises , published by Henry Holt in 2011 . The most eye-opening revelations in '' The Age of Deception '' , according to Coblentz , highlight “ the degree to which political considerations by various governments trumped real avenues for diplomatic solutions . ” Coblentz has described touring a munitions factory near Baghdad in the lead-up to the Iraq War , during which he observed Iraqi engineers forging 80-millimeter rocket shells . “ The operator was using gloves and tongs to handle red-hot metal , but had no safety goggles ; he was wearing sandals instead of safety shoes . Throughout the plant the most sophisticated pieces of equipment , with labels from Siemens and other hi-tech manufacturers , were layered with dust . ” The operators admitted that most of the equipment had not worked in years . There was no equipment maintenance program , nor were there spare parts . These engineering deficiencies were characteristic across Iraq . “ The inference was clear : it was highly unlikely that Iraq had retained the necessary degree of engineering sophistication to build centrifuge cascades for uranium enrichment . ” According to Coblentz , the nuclear inspections in Iraq represented a turning point for ElBaradei and the IAEA . On the day that the IAEA was asked by the U.S. to pull its inspectors out of Iraq , in advance of the March 2003 bombing , ElBaradei altered the draft of a speech he was about to deliver to the IAEA Board of Governors , adding a quote from Adlai Stevenson : “ There is no evil in the atom ; only in men ’s souls . ” I think what that represented for him – having been in Baghdad myself … finding many of the allegations , the points on which the U.S. and the U.K. were making their case to be inaccurate , it seemed very clear to ElBaradei that he was building the case for why there was … no imminent threat . And to have that overridden … was a real turning point . His backbone had always been very stiff ; but I think this was the occasion on which he basically said , “ Never again on my watch . ” In 2005 , the IAEA and its Director General were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize . Coblentz has described working with ElBaradei on the Nobel speech : Everything that you have seen and worked for over the past 30 years – how do you compress that into 20 minutes ? What is really the message you want to send to a global audience ? And we came back to the Iraq War , because he had begun to think that the two twin themes of the UN , security and development , really were a single theme . … We were sitting in his office and ElBaradei said … “ What the Iraq War should have taught us is that security and development are inextricably intertwined . ” Where you have poverty and abrogation of human rights , you also often have inept governance , you have a circumstance in which people , as they see the inequity , and are not allowed to express their views , the result is a natural situation for fomenting not only humiliation and injustice but anger , and a sense of wanting to redress wrongs . So from that you have violence of multiple sorts : you have civil strife ; you have a breeding ground for extremism ; and ultimately , if the seeds are sown deeply enough , that is where we are seeing the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction . In the wake of the Nobel award , ElBaradei was asked to speak on a much broader range of non-technological themes such as religion , faith , and tolerance . Coblentz has recounted how , on the eve of a trip to New York in which ElBaradei was to receive the Human Security Award from the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the James Parks Morton Interfaith Award , ElBaradei had asked Coblentz to focus the remarks on values common to all religions . We had identified passages from the Quran , the Talmud , the New Testament , the Bhagavad-Gita , etcetera , dealing with universal values such as integrity , charity , and faith . And that day we received news of the shooting of Amish schoolchildren in West Nickel Mines , Pennsylvania . Mohamed called me in to express his horror and his sympathy . He asked me how I thought the Amish would respond . The difference we would witness , I told him , was that the Amish would immediately forgive the shooter and demonstrate that forgiveness to the shooter ’s family . In that moment , we both realized the importance of highlighting another universal value : forgiveness . I felt as if my Amish Mennonite background was reaching out to me again , this time in the nuclear context of the IAEA . Speaking about the ongoing tension over Iran 's nuclear program , Coblentz has noted the ways in which miscommunication , disrespect , and a lack of cultural understanding have compounded the standoff between Iran and the West . As an IAEA spokesperson , he repeated ElBaradei 's mantra that Iran needed to address a “ confidence deficit ” with the international community . “ What we would hope for is that Iran and other parties would be able to engage in a dialogue that would restore trust . ” Coblentz has continued to emphasize the complexity of the dilemma facing ElBaradei and his successor , Yukiya Amano , when dealing with unverified allegations about Iran 's nuclear program
shooting of Amish schoolchildren in West Nickel Mines
West Nickel Mines School shooting
Laban Coblentz