For the past few days we have been bombarded by a revelation from our “intelligence” agency that Iran has another facility that can be used to develop a nuclear weapon. As expected, Iran has denied this facility has aggressive intents and claiming is has only peaceful purposes. Coupled with this denial is an almost schoolboy attitude from Teheran suggesting, “So what; we’re a free country; you can’t tell us what to do”. On the other side we have “experts” suggesting that a military option to destroy this facility might be a reasonable response to this “provocation”. Coming from nations who already have nuclear weapons our schoolboys are in effect saying, “You are not like us. We can be trusted with this power – you can’t.” Some older folks with long memories might find certain hypocrisy in this position.
There is a very good reason why we call nuclear bombs “weapons of mass destruction”. Other military actions can kill more people (for example, mass firebombing a city) but a nuclear bomb concentrates that force in a single package. A few such bombs can change the course of history. A few bombs change the way nations must treat each other. We see this in the relations between the West and Russia during the 50 years of “Cold War”. We see it in the delicate relations between India and Pakistan even in the face of the recent massacre in Mumbai by terrorists based in Pakistan. At the heart of this delicacy is a belief that nuclear weapons bring the potential for Mutual Assured Destruction – if you destroy me then rest assured that I will also destroy you.
We conveniently forget that Israel already has The Bomb. Israel neither admits nor denies that it has nuclear weapons but their possession is a generally regarded “public secret”. The US has declassified documents indicating it was convinced Israel had nuclear weapons as early as 1975. There are no public records stating how many warheads Israel has now but it is likely to be a significant number. Israel also has a viable delivery system. The Israeli air force is justifiably considered one of the best in the world. Dropping a nuclear bomb in the general vicinity of Teheran, Qom, Shiraz or any other large Iranian town is definitely within their capabilities. I have no doubt that this simple fact has not escaped the attention of Iran’s president, its religious leaders and the majority of its people.
It was widely reported that Nikita Khrushchev threatened to “bury the US”. We cleverly recognized this as hyperbole and continued diplomatic relations with the Russian Premier. We seem incapable of recognizing hyperbole in speeches by Middle Eastern leaders. This is unfortunate because hyperbole is common in those cultures – surely we have not forgotten the “mother of all battles”?
Is Iran seeking a bomb? I expect it is; not because it wants to obliterate Israel but because they probably believe it will bring a level of security and new respect. Both of these are likely to be illusory but if the only policy we have is to isolate Iran then it is not too surprising that they continue act like defiant schoolboys. As for Israel’s security, perhaps they need to recall a key concept from the movie Dr. Strangelove. The whole point - of the doomsday machine is lost...if you keep it a secret! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL THE WORLD?!
There is a very good reason why we call nuclear bombs “weapons of mass destruction”. Other military actions can kill more people (for example, mass firebombing a city) but a nuclear bomb concentrates that force in a single package. A few such bombs can change the course of history. A few bombs change the way nations must treat each other. We see this in the relations between the West and Russia during the 50 years of “Cold War”. We see it in the delicate relations between India and Pakistan even in the face of the recent massacre in Mumbai by terrorists based in Pakistan. At the heart of this delicacy is a belief that nuclear weapons bring the potential for Mutual Assured Destruction – if you destroy me then rest assured that I will also destroy you.
We conveniently forget that Israel already has The Bomb. Israel neither admits nor denies that it has nuclear weapons but their possession is a generally regarded “public secret”. The US has declassified documents indicating it was convinced Israel had nuclear weapons as early as 1975. There are no public records stating how many warheads Israel has now but it is likely to be a significant number. Israel also has a viable delivery system. The Israeli air force is justifiably considered one of the best in the world. Dropping a nuclear bomb in the general vicinity of Teheran, Qom, Shiraz or any other large Iranian town is definitely within their capabilities. I have no doubt that this simple fact has not escaped the attention of Iran’s president, its religious leaders and the majority of its people.
It was widely reported that Nikita Khrushchev threatened to “bury the US”. We cleverly recognized this as hyperbole and continued diplomatic relations with the Russian Premier. We seem incapable of recognizing hyperbole in speeches by Middle Eastern leaders. This is unfortunate because hyperbole is common in those cultures – surely we have not forgotten the “mother of all battles”?
Is Iran seeking a bomb? I expect it is; not because it wants to obliterate Israel but because they probably believe it will bring a level of security and new respect. Both of these are likely to be illusory but if the only policy we have is to isolate Iran then it is not too surprising that they continue act like defiant schoolboys. As for Israel’s security, perhaps they need to recall a key concept from the movie Dr. Strangelove. The whole point - of the doomsday machine is lost...if you keep it a secret! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL THE WORLD?!
