West makes fuss about Iran, ignores Israel: Egypt

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=1/18/2006&Cat=2&Num=002

CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt told U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney it supported efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons in the Middle East but slammed the West for turning a blind eye to Israel's atomic program, one official said.

Cheney was in Cairo as part of a Middle East tour that includes Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. He held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on several subjects including a standoff between the West and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program.

"The last thing we need in the Middle East is a nuclear weapon arms race," presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad said.

"But we cannot ignore Egyptian and Arab world public opinion (that refuses) to ... make all this fuss about the Iranian nuclear program while turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the Israeli nuclear program and arsenal."

[bbinacan]

1. IMHO,

Israel would not initiate a nuclear strike. I think Iran would. Since most Iranians are pro-US, let's hope they get rid of this idiot.

[Crunchy Frog]

4. They voted for this idiot.

I wouldn't count on most Iranians being pro-US at this point. Things were heading in that direction, but Bush has done all he can to quash that trend.

I frankly doubt that Iran would initiate a nuclear strike, but they have been given ample demonstration of the need for countries in the region to have good defence and deterrence capabilities. Obtaining nukes is a rational move for Iran to make, from the standpoint of its own interests.

[Alcibiades]

2. The nuclear armed nations are also obligated to disarm

Of course, we never hear anything about that when it comes to discussions of proliferation.

BTW, where's the moral outrage over the Pakistani bomb? Pakistan is always just a coup away from having some random general's finger on the button, but they are are buds now, so it's apparently OK for them to have the bomb, so long as it's pointed at New Delhi.

We demonized the Russians during the cold war, but they never used the bomb. I doubt the Iranians would either.

[Behind the Aegis]

3. Apples and oranges, in some respects.

Israel is not a member of the NPT and Iran is. Therefore, this article is a bunch of hooey.

[LunaC]

5. It’s not just Israel

Israel, Pakistan and India have nuclear power/weapons and have declined to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty but * isn’t complaining about them.

As far as Iran is concerned, they've signed the treaty and they’re trying to “play nice” and quell jittery nerves by inviting the U.S. to bid on constructing its nuclear power plants. The U.S. has responded with stony silence.

http://www.hanfordnews.com/news/2005/story/7280850p-7192722c.html

It should be noted that “IAEA inspectors have been admitted to every nuclear site in the country to which they have sought access and have found no hard evidence, to date, that bombs exist or that Iran has made a decision to build them. (The latest IAEA report can be downloaded at: www.GlobalSecurity.org)”

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7147.htm

Furthermore, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa forbidding the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons on August 9, 2005. The full text of the fatwa was released in an official statement at the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.

http://www.answers.com/topic/nuclear-non-proliferation-treaty


“Iran is a threat” is nothing more than propaganda to further the PNAC agenda! Anyone believing otherwise hasn’t been paying attention.