US Says
Israel Must
Give Up Nukes
By Amir Oren
Haaretz.com
4-3-5
- The State Department yesterday called on Israel to
forswear nuclear weapons and accept international Atomic Energy Agency
safeguards on all nuclear activities.
-
- This is the second time in about two weeks that
officials in the Bush administration are putting the nuclear weapons of
Israel, India and Pakistan on a par.
-
- The officials called on the three to act like Ukraine
and South Africa, which in the last decade renounced their nuclear
weapons.
-
- The similar phrasing used by the officials refers to
Israel's military nuclear capability, as distinct from "nuclear option,"
which is to be rolled back, although not necessarily in the "foreseeable
future."
-
- The rare use of these terms contradicts the custom of
senior administration officials to avoid any possible confirming
reference to Israeli nuclear weapons.
-
- The officials, who hold middle-level and lower ranks,
are Jackie Wolcott Sanders, ambassador, Conference on Disarmament and
special representative of the president for the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons, and Mark Fitzpatrick, acting deputy assistant secretary
for nonproliferation.
-
- Sanders was quoted yesterday in the State Department's
Electronic Journal, published ahead of the Non Proliferation Treaty
(NPT) review conference scheduled in New York at the beginning of
May.
-
- Fitzpatrick spoke on March 17 at a security conference
of the Organization of American States (OAS).
-
- On March 7 President George Bush called for a
strengthening of the NPT regime and thwarting the efforts of rogue
states and terrorists to obtain weapons of mass destruction. Bush
devoted his statement to enforcing NPT clauses on treaty regime members
(like North Korea and Iran) and ignored non-member states (India,
Pakistan, Israel and Cuba).
-
- In the past six years, since the Wye conference in
1998, presidents Clinton and Bush repeatedly promised then prime
ministers Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak and also Ariel Sharon that
Israel's strategic capability to protect itself will not be
harmed.
-
- Israeli experts on Bush's nuclear policy say that the
president is focusing on objecting to the nuclear process of North Korea
and Iran, and even approves aid to India - in nuclear energy among other
things - and to Pakistan (selling F-16 planes), while far lower ranks
abound with verbal formulas to excuse the withdrawal of the NPT regime
during the Bush era.
-
- Sanders and Fitzpatrick refrained from calling on
Israel, India and Pakistan explicitly to renounce their weapons. The
expectation of these three states was phrased in terms of a vow - a
verbal pledge to forswear, rather than real action. Nor was this demand
accompanied by a time table, conditions and sanctions.
-
- An official known for his sympathy for Israel, Robert
Joseph, has been nominated undersecretary of state for arms control and
international security, and has been serving in a similar position on
the staff of the National Security Council. His predecessor in the post
is UN ambassador-designate John Bolton, also known for his sympathy for
Israel.
-
- Sanders and Fitzpatrick hold more junior ranks in the
administration.
-
- In her statement yesterday Sanders said: "The
Conference should also reinforce the goal of universal NPT adherence and
reaffirm that India, Israel and Pakistan may join the NPT only as
non-nuclear-weapon states. Just as South Africa and Ukraine did in the
early 1990s, these states should forswear nuclear weapons and accept
IAEA safeguards on all nuclear activities to join the treaty. At the
same time, we recognize that progress toward universal adherence is not
likely in the foreseeable future. The United States continues to support
the goals of the Middle East resolution adopted at the 1995 NPT Review
and Extension Conference, including the achievement of a Middle East
free of weapons of mass destruction."
-
- According to the Israeli experts, the American
administration does not want to expand nuclear proliferation to
additional states in the region and agrees that in time it would be
preferable to have the Middle East nuclear free, but disagrees with the
immediate adoption of a policy which would prevent American forces like
the Sixth Fleet ships and airplanes from carrying nuclear warheads in
bombs and missiles as well.
-
- This is the seventh time that the Review Conference is
convening, to mark the 35th year of the NPT's establishment. The
conference, held every five years, will end at the end of May, shortly
before the IAEA governing council meets in Vienna in June to elect a
director general. The U.S. has not decided yet whether to support
incumbent IAEA Director General, Mohammed ElBaradei for another
term.
-
- http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/560047.html
|
The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With
Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in
anarchy"
Groupe de communication Mulindwas
"avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans
l'anarchie"
|
