Israel Silently Lapping Field in “Mideast Nuclear
Arms Race”
By IPA
July 21, 2015 "Information
Clearing House"
-
"IPA"
- At a news conference this afternoon, President Obama defended the
recent agreement with Iran, saying: “Without a deal, we risk even
more war in the Middle East, and other countries in the region would
feel compelled to pursue their own nuclear programs, threatening a
nuclear arms race in the most volatile region in the world.”
Most U.S. political and media commentary about the
agreement has given substantial voice to Israeli reaction, for
example quoting Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu about Iran: “Today
a terrorist nuclear superpower is born, and it will go down as one
of the darkest days in world history.” All the while, Israel’s
nuclear weapons arsenal — estimated at between 60 to 400 nuclear
weapons has been virtually ignored. Israel, unlike Iran and all Arab
countries, is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty.
GRANT F. SMITH, gsmith at irmep.org,
@IRmep
Smith is director of the Washington, D.C.-based
Institute for Research: Middle
Eastern Policy. He said today: “This whole idea of talking about
a nuclear arms race in the Middle East without admitting who’s
racing is bizarre. You can’t talk about a race without admitting
that some have not only left the starting line, but have lapped the
field.”
Grant has used the Freedom of Information Act and
initiated a lawsuit to obtain U.S. documents relating to Israel’s
nuclear weapons program. See from Courthouse News: “DOD
Report Details Israel’s Quest for Hydrogen Bomb.”
Grant wrote the piece “U.S.
Confirmed Existence of Israeli H-Bomb Program in 1987,” which
states: “The 1987 report’s confirmation of Israel’s advanced nuclear
weapons program should have immediately triggered a cutoff in all
U.S. aid to Israel under the Symington and Glenn Amendments to the
U.S. Foreign Assistance Act. …
“Under two known gag orders — punishable by
imprisonment — U.S. security-cleared government agency employees and
contractors may not disclose that Israel has a nuclear weapons
program. GEN-16 is a ‘no-comment’ regulation on ‘classified
information in the public domain.’ ‘DOE Classification Bulletin
WPN-136 on Foreign Nuclear Capabilities’ forbids stating what 63.9
percent of Americans already know — that Israel has a nuclear
arsenal.”
Also see Smith’s piece “Lawsuit
Challenges U.S. ‘Ambiguity’ Toward Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal,”
which states: “Los Alamos National Laboratory nuclear analyst James
Doyle wrote candidly about Israel’s nuclear weapons for a magazine
in 2013. After a congressional staffer read the article, which had
passed a classification review, it was referred to classification
officials for a second review. Doyle’s pay was then cut, his home
computer searched, and he was fired.”
Smith also wrote the piece “Poll:
Netanyahu Should be Investigated for Nuclear Weapons Tech Smuggling
Before U.S. Visit,” which states: “In 2012 the FBI declassified
and released files … of its investigation into how 800 nuclear
weapons triggers were illegally smuggled from the U.S. to Israel.
According to the FBI, the Israeli Ministry of Defense ordered
nuclear triggers (krytrons),
encrypted radios, ballistic missile propellants and other
export-prohibited items through a network of front companies.
Smuggling ring operations leader Richard Kelly Smyth alleged that
Netanyahu worked at one of the fronts — Heli Trading owned by
confessed spy and Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan — and met with
him frequently to execute smuggling operations.” See from the
Guardian: “Arnon
Milchan reveals past as Israeli spy.”
Background: At his first news conference at the
White House in February 2009, Obama was asked if he knew of any
country in the Middle East that has nuclear weapons. Obama replied
that he didn’t want to “speculate.” See: “Netanyahu’s
Nuclear ‘Chutzpah’ — As U.S. Government Releases Documents on
Israel’s Nukes.”