Arabs may have the oil, but Israel has the matches By Shakeel Syed

Arabs may have the oil, but Israel has the matches

By Shakeel Syed

Al-Jazeerah, November 27, 2004

The Bush administration continues its sheer hypocrisy with regard to his fantasy about WMD that began from Iraq. The existence of a tremendous stockpile of WMD in one Middle Eastern country is systematically ignored. Alone among its neighbors, Israel possesses an advanced nuclear capability and a sophisticated delivery system. “No country in the Middle East has more weapons of mass destruction than Israel and no other country other than Israel has escaped scrutiny of its nuclear arsenal,” reports the Center for Defense Information. Yet Israel is never publicly recognized as the largest producer of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East region.

With stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and an extremely sophisticated nuclear arsenal, and an aggressive strategy for their actual use, Israel represents an acute threat to peace and stability in the Middle East.

This should neither awe us nor shock us. This is part of the fatal game being played out against innocent people of the world. With total occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, along with full access to Pakistani airfields and seaport, the sandwiched Iran will inevitably be invaded next.

Before we could resolve our dispute with the plethora of painfully mundane analyses of ex- Generals and pathetic political pundits (mostly employed by the Corporate media), the press has yet again begun its drumbeat for Bush administration in its dangerous journey of “axis of evil” and its next stop, Islamic Republic of Iran, not Israel.

Sooner than we think the old footage of blind folded American hostages and the Islamic government of Iran (more democratically elected than the US President) will overwhelm the airwaves. And the global dissent of good people will be ignored to yet another preemptive invasion of Iran and they will be made to forget the bigger monster, Israel from the very discourse of “axis of evil.”

The nuclear-armed Israel is causing continual havoc in the region with its nuclear, chemical and biological weapons along with ballistic & cruise missiles ready for deployment on sophisticated delivery systems. Following brief list of the Israeli arsenal helps one see the tax dollars blown away by the shameless Congress. For years Israel has been receiving more than US$3 billion aid + occasional change of billions! As recent as in March 2003, the shameless US Congress threw US$10 billion as a special aid package to Israel.

Brief List of Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal & Weapons of Mass Destruction:

Nuclear:

Sophisticated nuclear weapons that can be delivered by ballistic missiles or aircraft.
Thermonuclear weapons.
150MW heavy water reactor & plutonium reprocessing facility at Dimona, which does not even meet IAEA safeguards.
IRR-1 5MW research reactor at Soreq.
Not a signatory of the NPT.

Chemical:

Active weapons program with possible chemical warheads on ballistic missiles.
Production capability for mustard and nerve agents.

Biological:

Production capability and extensive research reportedly conducted at the Biological Research Institute in Ness Ziona.
Not a signatory of the BTWC.

Ballistic missiles:

Jericho-2 missiles with 1,500km range and 1,000kg payload, nuclear warhead capability.
Jericho-1 missiles with 500km range and 500kg payload.
MGM-52 Lance missiles with 130km range and 450kg payload.
Shavit space launch vehicle (SLV) with 4,500km range and 150kg to 250kg payload.
Unconfirmed reports of Jericho-3 program under development using Shavit technologies, with a range up to 4,800km and 1000kg payload.
Developing Next (Shavit upgrade) SLV with unknown range and 300-500kg payloads.

Cruise Missiles:

Harpy lethal unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with 500km range and unknown payload.
Delilah/STAR-1 UAV with 400km range and 50kg payload.
Gabriel-4 anti-ship cruise missile with 200km range and 500kg payload.
Harpoon anti-ship cruise missile with 120km range and 220kg payload.

Delivery Systems:

Fighter and ground-attack aircraft include: F-15I, F-15D, F-15C, F-15B, F-15A, F-16D, F-16C, F-16B, F-16A, F-4E-2000, F-4E, C7, and A-4N.

· Ground systems include artillery and rocket launchers. Also, Popeye-3 land-attack air-launched missile with 350km range and 360kg payload, and Popeye-1 land-attack air-launched missile with 100km range and 395kg payload.

Mordechai Vanunu [s1] , a technician at Dimona, Israel's nuclear installation, from 1976 to 1985 claims a stockpile of up to 200 nuclear warheads in Israel’s nuclear arsenal. His expose’ resulted in his solitary confinement by his own State for 18 years and a recent re-arrest for reiterating his confession yet again.

[s1] http://www.vanunu.freeserve.co.uk/

Shakeel Syed is VP of www.islam.org & a Community Activist and lives in Culver City, CA and can be reached at shakeel@islamicity.com).

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

Apartheid Wall


The Israeli Land-Grab Apartheid Wall built inside the Palestinian territories, here separating Abu Dis from occupied East Jerusalem. (IPC, 7/4/04).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python. (Alquds,10/25/03).

Opinions expressed in various sections are the sole responsibility of their authors and they may not represent Al-Jazeerah's.

editor@aljazeerah.info