The Release of Mordechai Vanunu and US Role in Israel's Nuclear Arsenal

[kalian]

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/zunes.php?articleid=2378


...snip...
Israel is one of just four countries – the others being Pakistan, India, and Cuba – that has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. UN Security Council resolution 1172 urges all countries to become parties of the treaty.

...snip...

The European parliament, former President Jimmy Carter, the Jewish Peace Fellowship, the Federation of American Scientists, and many other prominent individuals and organizations have long called for Vanunu's release. By contrast, with few notable exceptions – such as the late Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota – there has been virtually no support in Congress. The four administrations in office during Vanunu's confinement have been even less supportive. For example, in response to an inquiry by Tom Campbell, the former Republican Congressman from California, Clinton 's assistant secretary of State Barbara Larkin claimed that Vanunu had had a fair trial and was doing well in prison.

...snip...

Under the Carter administration, which took the threat of nuclear proliferation somewhat more seriously than other administrations, the issue of Israel's development of nuclear weaponry was not raised publicly. When satellite footage of an aborted nuclear test in South Africa 's Kalahari Desert gave evidence of a large-scale presence of Israeli personnel at the test site, the Carter administration kept it quiet.9 Two years later, when a US satellite detected a successful joint Israeli-South African atomic bomb test in the Indian Ocean, the Carter administration rushed to squelch initial media reports. According to Joseph Nye, then-Deputy Under Secretary of State, the Carter administration considered the Israel's nuclear weapons program a low priority.10

Top officials in the Reagan administration made a conscious effort to keep information on Israel's nuclear capability from State Department officials and others who might have concerns over nuclear proliferation issues.11 The senior Bush administration sold at least 1,500 nuclear "dual-use" items to Israel, according to a report by the General Accounting Office, despite requirements under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that the existing nuclear powers like the United States not help another country's nuclear weapons program "in any way."12

The Israeli media reported that President Clinton wrote rightist Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu in 1998 pledging that the United States would continue to protect Israel's nuclear program from international pressure. According to Haaretz, "he United States will preserve Israel's strategic deterrence capabilities and ensure that Middle East arms control initiatives will not damage it in the future. The Clinton letter provides written – if secret – backup to the long-standing agreement between Jerusalem and Washington over the preservation of Israel's nuclear capabilities if Israel maintains its policy of 'ambiguity' and does not announce publicly that it has the bomb."

...more...

Now...why is it that the Arab countries hate the US...? :eyes:

[hellboy]

1. Vanunu is a traitor to Israel.

[kalian]

2. Really?

How so?
Please...DO enlighten us.

[bemildred]

3. Sharon is a thug.

:-)

[kalian]

4. And Israel is in violation of numerous UN resolutions....

not to mention human rights when it comes to Vanunu...

Oh well... :eyes:

[SeveneightyWhoa]

5. Gotta love the six-word freeper posts.

Hellboy might be right, but he's not going to convince anyone with his textless posts. Jeez, man, at least try to convince someone.

[kalian]

6. That wasn't a "freeper post"....

if you hung out over at the I/P forums long enough, he might be
mistaken for a "progressive".

Just wanted to let you know...

[SeveneightyWhoa]

7. Oh, my bad.

I usually categorize people who make antagonistic, short posts, with less than fifty or so posts in total, as "freepers". I might be wrong in this case, or I might not be.

[kalian]

8. Well then....

over at the I/P forums there'd be more freepers than you can
shake a stick at.
Scary...