Opinion Editorials, November 2003, www.aljazeerah.info
Human Price of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine
Israeli daily aggression on the Palestinian people
Mission and meaning of Al-Jazeerah
Cities, localities, and tourist attractions
US Double Standard and Nuclear Disarmament
Hassan Tahsin
Arab News, 11/24/03
The six-party talks in Beijing to urge North Korea to halt its military nuclear program have failed. Pyongyang has said it is disappointed and rejected what it calls “harsh” US demands inconsistent with logic or reason. The US wants to rid North Korea of its weapons, making it an easy target for American designs on the region. North Korea now says it no longer has any choice but to develop its nuclear program to turn it into a deterrent and a means of defending its sovereignty. That is an overt challenge to the US administration, to which it hasn’t yet been able to respond.
Further West, Iran, which in Washington’s eyes is part of the axis of evil, is being kept under pressure, accused of attempting to get hold of nuclear weapons. If it succeeds at doing so, it will change the military balance in the Middle East and also end Israel’s superiority in this field, threatening the US’ strategic interests in the region.
The US has put the pressure on North Korea and Iran under the pretext of eliminating nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction, with the ultimate aim of achieving world peace. Yet its real intentions are far removed from these lofty ideals — indeed such ideals are in clear conflict with the current US administration’s aims.
On Nov. 6 the US Congress approved a plan that grants the US President $27.2 billion to study new types of small nuclear heads. The project specifies $7.5 million to develop nuclear heads and use them to penetrate deep underground trenches. Six million dollars have been allocated for the studies necessary to develop low radiation nuclear weapons, while $11 million will be used to build a new factory to make the plutonium bars necessary to manufacture nuclear weapons. An amount of $25 million has been allocated to reduce the time needed for nuclear weapons testing from three to two years. The Bush administration had originally requested a reduction to one and a half years. An amount has also been set aside to eliminate nuclear waste and destroy it.
This American project corresponds with Israeli ideas (to build up its nuclear arsenal and produce low-level radiation nuclear bombs) which indicates close US-Israeli cooperation while at the same time conflicting entirely with America’s call to rid the world of WMDs.
With nothing to go on except its suspicions, Washington accused Iran and Syria of trying to build nuclear weapons while at the same time financially and technologically supporting Israel with its nuclear weapons program.
The US’ double standard will create problems in the region, while this latest project will lead to a no-holds-barred nuclear arms race in the Middle East and will drive non-nuclear countries to resort to legal and illegal means of finding a balance of military strength in the region — a region that Washington desires to keep in a constant state of turmoil.
How can we feel secure about America’s dealings in the field of nuclear weapons? Has the US truly adopted the principle of ridding the world of all weapons of mass destruction including nuclear weapons?
Or was it just the ace in the pack that it would use to wave in the face of so-called rogue states that don’t bow to Washington’s terms?
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python. (Alquds,10/25/03). |
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