In an interview with Newsweek, IAEA director-general Mohamed ElBaradei has gotten out of touch with his soft side and unleashed some fightin’ words.

What if the Iranians are just buying time for their bomb building?
That’s why I said we are coming to the litmus test in the next few weeks. Diplomacy is not just talking. Diplomacy has to be backed by pressure and, in extreme cases, by force. We have rules. We have to do everything possible to uphold the rules through conviction. If not, then you impose them. Of course, this has to be the last resort, but sometimes you have to do it.

You’re angry.
No, I’m not angry, but I’d like to make sure the process will not be abused. There’s a difference. I still would like to be able to avoid escalation, but at the same time I do not want the agency to be cheated; I do not want the process to be abused. I think that is clear. I have a responsibility, and I would like to fulfill it with as good a conscience as I can.

When ElBaradei starts talking smack about the Iranian nuclear program then you know something’s going on. I’m about ready to see him and President Ahmadinejad duke it out in a pay-per-view wrestling match. Except replace both of them with two Iranian protest babes. No hijab. And put up a cage and fill it with jello. Now that’s worth paying for. I think ElBaradei agrees.

I’m feeling mixed emotions here. I don’t know whether to be happy or sad. Happy that the world’s foremost pacifist has reached a realization, or sad that it had to get this far before it happened.