Now to the festering situation with Iran. The big issue with Israel is its fear of Iran developing nuclear weapons; Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear capabilities that would threaten the Israeli people. But in considering this situation, let's talk about a huge double standard. Question: which Middle Eastern nation has the region's only nuclear arsenal and is considered to be in the top ten nuclear powers in the world? Well, it's none other than the state of Israel that is reported to have between 150 and 200 nuclear weapons.
Consider this: In 1970, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT or NNPT), a treaty to limit the spread of nuclear weapons, came into being. There currently are 189 nations that are parties to the treaty, five of which are recognized as nuclear weapon states -- the United States, Russia, the UK, France and China.
However, there are four nations that are not parties to the treaty and are known or believed to possess nuclear weapons; India, Pakistan and North Korea have tested weapons and have admitted that they possess nuclear weapons. The fourth is, of course, Israel which refuses to join the NPT treaty and will not admit that it possesses nuclear weapons.
How and when will this Middle East turmoil end? Is the entire world going to continue to watch as Israel maintains an attitude of, "it's us against the world"? That is not going to work and it's only a matter of time until Israel is yet again involved with a dangerous military action in the volatile Middle East and let's hope that it does not involve a misguided attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Some have said that Israel is its own worst enemy and that often appears to be the case. And it shows no signs of changing. The U.S. has, for decades, been both the big brother protector and chief apologist for Israel and that needs to be changed. The current situation in the Middle East with Israel being the center of continuing controversy is unsustainable.
Here is the scenario that cannot -- must not -- be allowed to unfold: Israel goes off the deep end and initiates an air attack on Iran's nuclear facilities; Iran retaliates with a vengeance, using mines and missiles to turn the Strait of Hormuz into total chaos and bring all oil traffic to a halt; Iran, together with Syria and Hezbollah, join in a direct attack on Israel using rockets, missiles and, possibly military forces.
In such a horrific situation, what would Russia do; would they actually retaliate in some way? What would the U.S. do? Would China intervene in some way? This scenario could turn a smoldering fire into a massive inferno; the entire Middle East could easily erupt in a deadly conflict that could initiate World War III. Yes, this would be a planetary nightmare, but what is being done by anyone to prevent it from happening? Where is the diplomacy, the discussions, the dialogue to develop some kind of solution? The U.S., Israel and Iran keep talking at and about each other, but not with one another.
This entire situation is now getting totally out of control and President Obama and his administration must make a clean break with past strategies and relations with Israel. The U.S. must make it crystal clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government that it will no longer support or tolerate the current militaristic position that Israel is taking.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
5
4
2
