Sometimes things seem so overwhelming, but I realize I must re-double my efforts. I have to focus myself on something, sometime. This seems important enough for now, and at least it keeps my mind moving.
On Friday, for the first time in IAEA history, rival nations engaged each other on the floor when Iran called for IAEA inspectors to do their jobs and investigate Israel's rumored nuclear arsenal. This came in the wake of Israel's accusations that Iran has been lying about the purpose of their atomic energy program. While Iran has constantly been drug through the mud recently for refusing to halt their nuclear program, Israel has (predictably) faced far less criticism regarding their assumed possession of nuclear weapons.
Israel has constantly avoided the spotlight regarding the nuclear issue, even when things seemingly came to a head more than 9 months ago when Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert apparently admitted to his country's possession of nuclear weapons in an interview with a German television station. While the words "Can you say that this is the same level, when they are aspiring to have nuclear weapons, as France, America, Russia and Israel?" appear to be impossible to take "out of context," that was of course the excuse given by Israel after the admission. In fact, they now deny that he said it at all, with Israel Michaeli (Israel's UN ambassador) saying "Some speakers continue to lie about the statement of the Israeli prime minister, who did not say what they say he did," and then smartly following that up with "Those who call for the elimination of Israel have no moral standing when they criticize Israeli policies aimed at defending Israel's very existence." So, in effect, "We never said we have nukes and we don't have them, but if we do, which we might, you don't have any place in criticizing us for it because you're jerks anyway." Brilliant!
The evil Iranian ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh just spouted off crazy accusations as usual, saying "The only way for the international community to know the truth is to authorize the IAEA to send inspectors to Israel and verify the truth." Now, where's the sanity in that? And oh, by the way, guess which one of these countries is in on the IAEA Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty? I'll give you one guess, and the answer isn't Israel. Now, remember who the bad guy is here. It's Iran! Isn't it? Or are things getting a little more murky now? Why do we rail against a country that, for all intents and purposes, has followed the letter of the law when it comes to nuclear research and production while turning a completely blind eye to a country that has circumvented nearly every rule in the book when it comes to military weapons, nuclear or otherwise? Have we forgotten that Israel, time and time again, has refused to sign the Non Proliferation Treaty? How can we, as a world power, try to deny one poor country the right to legally use one of our greatest inventions for the good of their society, while allowing another (ally or not) to disregard all treaties and safeguards regarding that very same invention even when they are receiving literally BILLIONS of dollars every year in "aid" from our own government?
If Israel really wants a peaceful resolution in the Middle East (they DO NOT), they would comply with the standards to which they hold the rest of the region instead of flexing their American muscle (don't think a Washington veto isn't coming if there's any action against Israel by the security council) every time they are questioned. We are already stuck in this mess, and until we learn to deal with manipulative regimes like Israel we will just continue to be the big dumb bully on the field. All brawn and no brains, capitulating to the whim of the weaker, but craftier influence.
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