its official, israel runs america

[brad]

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1061381,00.html

Israel deploys nuclear arms in submarines

Peter Beaumont in London and Conal Urquhart in Jerusalem
Sunday October 12, 2003
The Observer

Israeli and American officials have admitted collaborating to deploy US-supplied Harpoon cruise missiles armed with nuclear warheads in Israel's fleet of Dolphin-class submarines, giving the Middle East's only nuclear power the ability to strike at any of its Arab neighbours.
The unprecedented disclosure came as Israel announced that states 'harbouring terrorists' are legitimate targets, responding to Syria's declaration of its right to self-defence should Israel bomb its territory again.

According to Israeli and Bush administration officials interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, the sea-launch capability gives Israel the ability to target Iran more easily should the Iranians develop their own nuclear weapons.

Although it has been long suspected that Israel bought three German diesel-electric submarines with the specific aim of arming them with nuclear cruise missiles, the admission that the two countries had collaborated in arming the fleet with a nuclear-capable weapons system is significant at a time of growing crisis between Israel and its neighbours.

According to the paper, the disclosure by two US officials is designed to discourage Israel's enemies from against launching an attack amid rapidly escalating tensions in the region following a raid by Israeli jets on an alleged terrorist training camp near the Syrian capital, Damascus.

In a clear echo of the Bush doctrine of pre-emption, the Foreign Ministry's senior spokesman, Gideon Meir, insisted: 'Israel views every state that is harbouring terrorist organisations and the leaders of those terrorist organisations who are attacking innocent citizens of the state of Israel as legitimate targets out of self defence.'

The disclosure, is certain to complicate UN-led efforts to persuade Iran to make a full disclosure of its nuclear programme. It will also complicate the Bush administration's efforts to reach out to moderate Arab states when they are pressing for an equal disclosure of Israel's nuclear weapons programme.

Although Israel has long been known to possess nuclear weapons, in the past it has abided by a deal struck with President Richard Nixon in 1969 that it would maintain 'ambiguity' about its retention of weapons in exchange for the US turning a blind eye. According to reliable estimates, Israel has around 200 nuclear warheads.

It acquired the three Dolphin class submarines, which can remain at sea for a month, in the late Nineties. They are equipped with six torpedo tubes suitable for the 21-inch torpedoes that are normally used on most submarines.

It had been understood they would carry a version of the 'Popeye Turbo' cruise missiles being developed by Rafael Armament Development Authority of Israel.

Israel's seaborne nuclear doctrine is designed to place one submarine in the Persian Gulf, the other in the Mediterranean, with a third on standby. Secret test launches of the cruise missile systems were understood to have been undertaken in May 2000 when Israel carried out tests in the Indian Ocean.

'We tolerate nuclear weapons in Israel for the same reason we tolerate them in Britain and France,' one of the LA Times' sources told the paper. 'We don't regard Israel as a threat.'

Despite the anonymity of the source, the sentiment is almost identical to that of the US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control, John Bolton, who told British journalists last week that America was not interested in taking Israel to task for its continuing development of nuclear weapons because it was not a 'threat' to the United States.

Even if Bolton was not one of the sources for the story, his comments, coming on top of that of the two other sources, suggest the degree to which senior members of the Bush administration can now not even be bothered to hide America's assistance and encouragement for Israel's nuclear programme.

[andyfox]

And how does this show that Israel runs America?

[Gamblor]

LOL

Assuming this is true, what does that have to say about you all, if 5 million people 10,000 km away are controlling 250 million of you??

[brad]

how else can get nukes from US? (and direct, no middleman needed anymore)

[daryn]

i don't know if this forum is the right place to say this... actually i know it's not.. but here goes!

it seems like the creation of israel was a bad thing as far as world events go. the US should stop giving israel all sorts of money and arms.. i mean, arabs don't hate america for no reason.

[brad]

wait till iran is nuked by israel (with US built nukes)

[Cyrus]

While it is a wild and foolish exaggeration to claim that "Israel runs America", it would be equally foolish to ignore the extremely disproportionate influence of political action committees on American foreign policy. The (infamous) Israeli lobby is truly extremely well-organised and wields serious power, not just in Washington, but across the spectrum of state and local politics. In other words, an aspiring politician in Oregon whose platform contains criticism of Israeli policy will have to face not just Oregonians who oppose his platform (as a whole), not just Jeiwsh-Americans in Oregon, but the whole Jewish-American political machine in the United States that has made a habit of swiftly kicking off-screen such "aspiring politicians"!


Nonetheless, the recent endorsement (it's an endorsement, for all practical purposes) of Israeli nuclear capability by the United States represents indeed a turning point in American foreign policy.

So far, the American position regarding Israeli nukes was something like "Don't ask, don't tell". Now, it officially acknowledges and OKs Israeli nukes. Consequences:

(a) This harms the consistency of the very blueprint for American foreign policy ("For the 21st Century") which explicitly calls for actively stopping proliferation of nukes. The doctrine is now being changed to "We don't care if the country is friendly to us". Huh?? Whazzat? Never heard of a country changing regimes, pumpkin? Them nukes still be there, pumpkin.

(b) This hurts (worsens) the credibility of the United States in the eyes of both the Arab world, to the extent that the U.S. cares about Arab world attitudes, and the Europeans, ditto.

(c) This represents no gain at all in strategic terms for the United States. America has no formal defense treaty with Israel. Moreover, Israel has repeatedly stated and demonstrated that, in matters of its defense, it will act unilaterally, without consulting with the U.S. and even against American advice or interests. Essentially, this is like allowing any other maverick nation to possess nukes.

--Cyrus

[andyfox]

One makes deals, the same as any other country.

When you post a title like Isreal controls America, it brings to mind, to me at least, the old accusations of Jewish control of the country.

[Ray Zee]

i dont think israel will use nukes without our blessing. and by giving them more nuke power it puts pressure on the middle east to come to our ways. it also helps let us off the hook if we want iran or another place gone by letting israel do the dirty work and then sanction them a little.

[Dr Wogga]

....stupidly, I posted on "other gambling" instead of this page. BTW, although I've always thought your politics suck, I like a guy who loves "vag" as much as I do. A lot of fags on these pages - especially the anti-semite, pro left wing extremists on these pages - a lot of bone smugglers to be sure