Leaders focus on Iran, ignore Israel
It’s good to know that world leaders are on top of any effort by Iran to build nuclear weapons. President Barack Obama and the leaders of France and Britain said on Friday that Iran needs to make full disclosure about its nuclear program and allow international inspectors inside a previously undisclosed site.
The leaders threatened new sanctions against Iran if it fails to comply.
All good, I suppose. We definitely need fewer nuclear arms in the world, not more. (The current roster of nuclear-armed nations, including the U.S., France and Britain, would do the world an enormous service by beginning to dismantle their stockpile.) And Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has not endeared himself to the world community over the years. That unpopularity combined with Iran’s violent response to the disputed presidential vote makes him and his country an easy target. Maybe too easy.
Turns out this previously undisclosed site, which Iran, itself, told the International Atomic Energy Agency about in a letter earlier this week, was well known to our intelligence community. Also, after the statement on possible new sanctions, Iran said it would allow inspectors to visit the site.
So, this all seems a little overblown. Wasn’t there enough to concentrate on at the G-20 economic summit? Does this mean that the economy is rosy? I don’t think so.
Also, I’m starting to understand why these world leaders are often accused of having a double-standard regarding certain nations of the world.
Obama, in his statement Friday said, “The Iranian government must now demonstrate through deeds its peaceful intentions or be held accountable to international standards and international law.”
There is another nation in that part of the world that has defied “international standards and international laws” for years yet neither the United States, France, nor Britain has called for sanctions against it.
Yes, I’m talking about Israel.
Israel has been the subject of 138 resolutions. Not surprisingly, most of those resolutions call upon Israel to comply, in its actions towards Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, with basic principles of international law embodied by the UN Charter.
Way back in 1967, the UN Security Council, under Resolution 237, called upon Israel to “ensure the safety, welfare and security of the inhabitants, facilitate the return of those inhabitants who have fled the areas since the outbreak of the hostilities and recommends the scrupulous respect of the humanitarian principles contained in the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949.”
Israel ignored the Security Council and defied the world community and today, 42 years after that resolution, it continues to defy it and all related resolutions since then.
When was the last time you heard a U.S. president, or a French or British president, call for sanctions against Israel?
Oh, and, by the way, Israel has a “secret” nuclear weapons program and a nuclear arsenal.
Tags: Iran, Israel, Middle East, Nuclear weapons
1 Comment to “Leaders focus on Iran, ignore Israel”
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By Alex Stonehill, October 5, 2009 @ 5:17 pm
Agreed! Israels nuclear arsenal is the impetus for Middle East leaders frequent, not so subtle comments that they “fully support a nuclear free Middle East”. And while Iran obviously has some pretty nutty guys at the helm, when you look at it from their perspective, Israel surely has nukes pointed in their direction, and the US has recently invaded both their immediate neighbors, so you can see how they might feel threatened.