The news that Israel is reportedly considering using nuclear weapons against Iran is a shocking development if true. Seymour Hersh reported back in early 2006 that the Bush administration was considering similar moves. Two rogue states thinking about the unimaginable.
Israel has unsurprisingly denied the latest allegations but Israeli “experts” have not been so quick to do so. In much of the analysis, however, the key points are being missed. The Huffington Post’s Cenk Uygur joins the dots:
Are there no bounds to hypocrisy? The Times is reporting that Israel is seriously considering using nuclear weapons against Iran so that Iran does not threaten the world with nuclear weapons. That would break all irony records.
If Iran is at best two years away from developing a nuclear weapon and they say they have no intention of even building one, let alone using it against anybody and Israel says they are planning to use one against Iran, shouldn’t we be considering preemptive military action against Israel instead?
We claim that we care about non-proliferation. We claim that we care about the use of weapons of mass destruction. Then shouldn’t our top priority be to stop Israel?
Are there no bounds to hypocrisy? The Times is reporting that Israel is seriously considering using nuclear weapons against Iran so that Iran does not threaten the world with nuclear weapons. That would break all irony records.
If Iran is at best two years away from developing a nuclear weapon and they say they have no intention of even building one, let alone using it against anybody and Israel says they are planning to use one against Iran, shouldn’t we be considering preemptive military action against Israel instead?
We claim that we care about non-proliferation. We claim that we care about the use of weapons of mass destruction. Then shouldn’t our top priority be to stop Israel?
It must be noted in the end that this has not happened yet. It is grossly irresponsible and counterproductive to even suggest the possibility, as apparently some in the Israeli government have. But Israel has not launched their nukes yet. I hope that they are bluffing. But if they are not and they go through with this plan, it would be unconscionable to support them. If they use nuclear weapons against a country that did not attack them, we must end our relationship with them and let the world know they are no longer our ally.
And this is the key point. If the world continues to ignore the brutal occupation of Palestinian land, a US-approved, Israeli use of nuclear weapons should surely be the point after which the Jewish state is shunned and left to wither. To launch a first-strike nuclear attack would take irresponsibility and illegality to new heights.