UN nuclear watchdog puts pressure on Israel

[Gruffalo]

The UN atomic watchdog is asking for international input on an Arab-led push to have Israel join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a move that adds to pressure on the Jewish state to disclose its unacknowledged nuclear arsenal.

Israel, in turn, is suggesting efforts should focus instead on giving teeth to the nuclear treaty to prevent signatories like Iran from acquiring such weapons.

On Wednesday, The Associated Press disclosed that International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano had sent a letter soliciting proposals from the agency's 151 member states on how to persuade Israel to sign the treaty.

And the world's five recognized nuclear-weapons powers — the U.S., Russia, Britain, France and China — affirmed the goal of a nuclear-free Middle East.

A string of Israeli officials, including a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the minister of atomic energy, the deputy minister of foreign affairs, the minister of strategic threats and the minister of communication, all refused to comment on the recent developments.

The latest pressure is putting Israel in an uncomfortable position. It wants the international community to take stern action to prevent Iran from getting atomic weapons, while it brushes off calls to come clean about its own nuclear capabilities.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/0...ea-israel.html

And the hypocrisy of the terrorist state of Israel rolls on.

[C. Flower]

I wonder if Russia is involved in this somewhere along the line.

[Gruffalo]

I think there are a few countries that have had enough of Israel's behaviour.

[C. Flower]

I think there are a few countries that have had enough of Israel's behaviour.

There may have been some kind of deal done in connection with START.

[musashi]

Good news.
but other than bringing a dose of honesty to the middle-east question what does this achieve, it's a side-show.

1967 borders or GTFO

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

Well at least the 'Israelis' won't be able to complain if any of the major powers get fed up with them and take out their nuclear weapons.

Pretty hard to register a complaint about destroying weapons they deny ever having

[C. Flower]

Joe Biden gives Israel a big hug -

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...1.html?via=rel

Bidens tour of Europe and Israel this week has been a bit overlooked because of the Euro crisis - but it is yet another sign that the US is continuing to try to pull together a consensus for an attack on Iran.

Presence of NATO troops in the May Day parades in Moscow may be part of the overall wheeling and dealing behind the scenes.

China may be the only remaining point of resistance to an attack on Iran.

[Kev Bar]

It's a slow shift in the US but the combination of the best-seller "How Israel Lost" with "The Israel Lobby" (more academic but equally corrosive in its analysis of the damage being done to US interests and security) wld give a man a glimmer of possible light at the end of a long tunnel.

An attack on Iran with so many US troops held "hostage" in Iraq....dunno?

[C. Flower]

It's a slow shift in the US but the combination of the best-seller "How Israel Lost" with "The Israel Lobby" (more academic but equally corrosive in its analysis of the damage being done to US interests and security) wld give a man a glimmer of possible light at the end of a long tunnel.

An attack on Iran with so many US troops held "hostage" in Iraq....dunno?

How long is it since the US sold arms to both Iran and Iraq so that they could fight a horrific war with each other ?

In what way would they be hostage ?

[Kev Bar]

How long is it since the US sold arms to both Iran and Iraq so that they could fight a horrific war with each other ?

In what way would they be hostage ?

They sold arms to Iraq and equally importantly gave the iraqis sat intel which was essential to counter Iran's human wave tactics.

The Iran-contra affair, which perhaps is what you refer to when you say the US sold to both sides, was a mere sideshow.

The US supported "secular" Sunni ruled Iraq against Shiite Iran's Islamic Revolution.

(That is not to say the US were unhappy about Iraqi losses ... but they were far more unhappy about the prospect of Iranian successes. Status quo ante bellum with both sides depleted being the US objective)

"Hostage."

Since the powers that be in Iraq are predominantly linked to Iran, they can can cause serious trouble for the Yanks.

Ref when the yanks were bogged down fightin the Sunni insurgents in Fallujah, the ran into deep **** when the Shiite Madhi army revolted in the South.
Ayotollah Sistani cooled the show down.

Iran can turn on/off the pressure at its will.

And there's a very credible thesis they fed the neo-con's then poster boy Ahmed Chalabi all the "dope" on the WMD which Ahmed gave to Cheney Pearle Wolf etc

You will find Mr Chalabi more often in Tehran than Washington these days.

The Guardian ran the best coverage of this angle.

One of the US media's darkest hours.