Israel, Iran and the bomb

Reading this week's Time magazine I was quite surprised by the interview with Shimon Peres in the 10 questions segment. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2109787,00.html]

Question: Remind me, does Israel have nuclear weapons?

Answer: Look, Israel doesn't intend to introduce nuclear weapons, but if people are afraid that we have them, why not?

To me this reads as a claim that Israel does not hold nukes, which is a stronger refutement than usual as usually Israel spokerspersons take a stance of ambiguity.

More surprising is that this contradicts a press conference in Jordan 1998, reported in the Jerusalem Post [http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=44774]  where Peres stated that Israel had:

"built a nuclear option, not in order to have a Hiroshima but an Oslo."

Not many people really believe that Israel does not have a nuclear weapon programme, and it seems rather futile trying to deny it any more.

So why does Israel continue to deny the existence of WMDs.  Could it be that it makes it very difficult to question Iran's nuclear intentions?

I don't like the prospect of Iran holding WMDs but it makes it difficult for any country to take an even handed approach on this if they don't at the same time question Israel's nuclear programme.  And it certainly isn't acceptable for any western country to support an Israeli attack on Iran when both countries are allegedly carrying out nuclear programmes.

Further reading - Israel's weapons of mass destruction - May 2005

Brown's and Obama's hyprocritcal high horse

Once again we see our leaders displaying astounding levels of hypocrisy by threatening Iran with sanctions and hinting at possible military action.

The first point of hypocrisy is our mistaken belief that we have a right to nuclear weapons while others do not. Brown's futile gesture of cutting the amount of nuclear submarines by one, is pointless. We still remain a nuclear power and are wasting billions replacing the scheme while our country racks up further debt.

The second point of hypocrisy is the refusal of the current nuclear club to tackle Israel on its nuclear arsenal. Israel is the only country in the middle east since 1990 to take hostile military action against another country in the region, yet they are allowed to hold onto their arsenal not just without sanctions but with preferential trade agreements and US foreign aid.

Don't get me wrong, I too do not believe Iran should become a nuclear power, but neither do I believe any other country should either.

Ahmadinejad stokes the flames of anti-Semitism in the Middle East

Yet again Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has used blatantly anti-Semitic rhetoric to attack Israel by stating the Holocaust was "a lie based on an unprovable and mythical claim". [BBC News]

How is such behaviour helping the Palestinian cause? To resort to lies and racism to fight for a cause discredits any valid statements you may make.

Israel should be criticised for it's illegal occupation and war crimes in the occupied territories, based on evidence and argument. Such abhorent behaviour is unacceptable and the sooner Ahmadinejad is gone the better.