Now who on earth in one of the almost most continuous war zones of the last 60 years would put a "top secret" nuclear plant within missile range of your most volatile neighbours. Israel that's who.
The fact that the Times has got hold of the information of this top secret facility is one thing. That Israel has one is another and that it is within range of the rockets, which have shocked Israeli intelligence as to their sophistication and range is another.
The problem is that Israel despite ceding land to the Palestinians have tried to maintain a tight grip on things. The repressive border controls, including the wall and preparedness for war with their nearest neighbours does not make for good international relations. When Robert Frost wrote that "Good wall make for good neighbours" he was being somewhat ironic. While they are essential in the countryside they lead to all sorts of disputes in urban or international settings.
How many of us know of some dispute over boundaries in a urban setting near us? Which have arisen as land has been sub-divided into smaller and smaller clumps. Internationally the Iron Curtain epitomised by the Berlin Wall has been down these last 20 years. We've been relying on communist China for financial assistance in the West over recent years. Even the wall between the USA and Cuba (who celebrate 50 years of the revolution) may be on the verge of being broken down.
Yet the siege mentality that the Israeli state have been in since their inception 60 years ago is not doing them many favours. It brings us to the point that Israel had a top secret nuclear plant. The USA most have known about this yet in North Korea or Iran they come down hard on such things. Yet in the volatile Middle East, their good friends the Israelis appear to have developed one. Top secret nuclear facilities generally mean one thing armaments. If we don't want Iran to have nuclear weapons to be able to launch on Israel why have we been allowing Israel to work on the same it just doesn't make sense.
But then when over recent years has US foreign policy made sense? Step up to the plate Barack and give us a change.
"But then when over recent years has US foreign policy made sense? Step up to the plate Barack and give us a change"
ReplyDeleteBut presumably you saw the opinion piece - 'Don't expect Obama to get tough with Israel' - in the same edition of the Times by Gerard Baker which essentially concluded that nothing much would change?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/gerard_baker/article5429620.ece
Of course, Baker is to the right of the newspaper columnists and it's not clear how the latest developments will affect things, but I suspect that many Obama supporters should prepare to be disappointed on such matters.
(Sorry for late comment, must have missed your post the other day!)