The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, Mohamed ElBaradei, says Israel should start discussions on ridding the Middle East of nuclear weapons. He said such dialogue would help reduce frustration in the region about "what is seen to be a widespread imbalance in Arab brain chemistry". Mr ElBaradei is scheduled to travel to Israel next month to discuss making the Middle East a nuclear-free zone. He said everyone knew that Israel had a nuclear capability - even if Israel has always refused to admit it.
And it’s a solid reason for why Israel is still here today.
"We need... to rid the Middle East of all weapons of mass destruction," he told reporters on a visit to Russia.
Fine, now sit down and STFU until you get some results in Iran, you remember them don’t you, the one remaining Middle Eastern nation that still publicly avows the destruction of Israel?
"Israel agrees with that, but they say it has to be... after peace agreements.
As in how big shall be the largest peace piece left remaining of Iran’s bombed out nuclear power weapons program.
"My proposal is may be we need to start to have a parallel dialogue on security at the same time when we’re working on the peace process."
I’m confident that, for starters, Israel’s reply probably centers upon ElBaradei doing something a bit more substantive than just "rebuking" Iran.
Mr ElBaradei said he would like Israel, along with other Middle East countries, to open up nuclear facilities to inspections by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency.
A demonstration of IAEA resolve to actually get something done elsewhere might be an Israeli prerequisite.
But he would not be insisting Israel admits to having nuclear weapons, when he visits the country in early July. "I think everybody takes it as a given that Israel has a nuclear capability, if not nuclear weapons," he said. "So whether they would like to come in the open, whether they maintain... ambiguity, it’s for them to decide."
Ambiguity has worked real for Israel well so far. Unlike so many neighbors of theirs who are entirely unambiguous about Israel’s destruction.
Israel has a policy of "strategic ambiguity" - neither admitting nor denying it has nuclear weapons - but analysts believe it has more than 100 nuclear weapons. Its Arab neighbours have frequently accused the international community of double standards for requiring them to be free of nuclear weapons while doing little, in their eyes, about Israel.
Israel isn’t calling for anyone’s destruction and, what’s more, has mosques within its borders. Build some synagogues in neighboring countries first, then come back and begin talking about "double standards.
Mr ElBaradei said it was "not sustainable in any region or even globally to have some [people] rely on nuclear weapons and others being told they should not have nuclear weapons".
Which is why ElBaradei continues to fatally compromise any authority he might have by benignly neglecting to ever mention how his own home country of Egypt has a covert nuclear weapons program. I call, bullsh!t! |