The real nuclear threat
Unlike in Iran, fanaticism in Pakistan and Israel is hardcore, and the combination of such fanaticism with a nuclear arsenal makes an explosive cocktail

Abolala Soudavar
June 29, 2005
iranian.com

The following appeared as an ad in the New York Times, June 24, 2005.

On April 13, 2005, the New York Times reported -- as a headline -- that “Sharon Asks U.S. to Pressure Iran to Give Up Its Nuclear Program” after “[s]preading photographs of Iranian nuclear sites over a lunch table at the Bush ranch.” It sounded very much like the "evidence” provided by the "friendly country" that accused Niger of supplying nuclear material to Saddam Hussein.

That fabricated “ evidence” made a fool out of the Secretary of State before the United Nations, and paved the way for a war that has claimed: 1700 American lives, numerous soldiers with mutilated bodies and limbs, and countless others awed and shell-shocked by the realities of a war that they perceive as different from the rosy picture depicted back home.

And yet, politicians as well as the press, pursue their unidirectional focus on the Iranian “nuclear threat,” to the exclusion of the danger stemming from Israel and Pakistan, which already have a nuclear weapon and which, unlike Iran, are not signatories to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and do not allow any international inspection of their nuclear facilities.

Pakistan is of course the country that has given birth to the Taliban, has arranged their marriage with al-Qaeda and has consolidated it by brokering a marriage between the house of Osama Bin-Laden and that of Mulla Omar, and still continues to arm and protect the Taliban.

Israel on the other hand, is the country that is responsible for the highest number of death of innocent civilians outside its own borders since WWII.

What renders the nuclear arsenal of these two countries a potential danger for the region is what these two countries have in common: a strong and very fanatical minority that is already putting much pressure on their respective governments and is within striking distance to exert real control.

Despite appearances, and throughout their history, Iranians have never been fanatical people, and now, thanks to the Islamic Republic, more than fifty percent of young Iranians are not only antireligion but are blasphemously so. As for the clerics, whether reformist or conservative, their fight is not to promote Islam but to control oil money.

But unlike Iran, fanaticism in Pakistan and Israel is hardcore, and the combination of such fanaticism with a nuclear arsenal makes an explosive cocktail. Today their governments are friendly with the United States. But so was the government of Iran under the last Shah who was labeled as the US’ closest ally in the Middle East.

One should not forget that the Iranian nuclear program was actually initiated by the Shah, to the acclaim of all Western powers, and only inherited by the Islamic Republic of Iran which is now labeled as part of the Axis of Evil. Only a fool can believe that a friendly government today, will remain friendly forever.

Nuclear danger is a real danger; for the United States as well as the rest of the world. The fact of the matter though is that the only time nuclear bombs were launched was a time when only one country had it. Imbalance in nuclear power is an incentive to use it, and nuclear parity is a strong dissuading force that has prevented the outbreak of a nuclear war.

Any policy aimed at stopping the nuclear program of Iran, without attempting to disarm Israel and Pakistan is unrealistic. For the sake of protecting its own people, for the sake of peace in the Middle East and further political stability in the world, it will be incumbent upon the President of Iran, whoever he may be, to seek nuclear parity with its neighbors.

If Israel and Pakistan are ready to relinquish their nuclear program, so must Iran. If not, Iran must acquire nuclear weapons, no matter how many carrots and sticks are offered to stop it. www.soudavar.com

About
Abolala Soudavar is director of Mirak Inc., a designer furniture company in Houston, Texas. He was president of Khawar Industrial Group in Tehran from 1975 to 1979. Visit his site Soudavar.com