| Tip o' the hat to the SandMonkey. We pretty much knew this but it is from the horse's, er, mouth. |
Recently Egypt announced that it was striving to attain nuclear capabilities. President Mubarak himself, as well as his son Jamal, were questioned on the issue and declared that their nation needed nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and Egypt's nuclear program would be aimed at overcoming the deficiency in fuel and natural gas reserves.
However, now it appears that if Iran develops nuclear power, Egypt will no longer be satisfied with devoting its nuclear resources to peaceful purposes alone.
| It's one thing if the evil Joooz have the bomb. But allowing the Medes and Persians? No, never! |
In response, Olmert reiterated past statements that “Israel will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle East. As is well known, it is Iran that is threatening to introduce nukes and use them – and many countries have good reason to be concerned, including Israel, Egypt and many European nations. The UN Security Council’s decision to threaten sanctions against Iran is a step in the right direction.”
Mubarak, on the other hand, said that if Iran attains nuclear weapons, his country cannot sit idly by on the sidelines. “Egypt’s stance is clear. We declared this stance in Baghdad in the early 1990’s in the presence of then President Saddam Hussein: The Middle East should be free of weapons of mass destruction – atomic, biological and chemical.
“We don’t want nuclear arms in the area but we are obligated to defend ourselves. We will have to have the appropriate weapons. It is irrational that we sit and watch from the sidelines when we might be attacked at any moment,” Mubarak stated.