|
|
Aerial view of
Iran's
Bushehr
nuclear facility |
Last week,
Iran rejected a call from the International Atomic Energy Agency to
cease its uranium enrichment activities, and this week it test-fired a
newly-upgraded missile that can reach Israel and US troops in the Mideast.
Western powers are now attempting, with increasing alarm, to halt
Iran's march toward nuclear armament before it's too late.
While these disturbing
developments took place, Jonathan Power in the
International Herald
Tribune (9/22) compared the Iranian nuclear program to Israel's
and concluded that 'It is the Arabs who
should be worried by Israel's might, rather than the other way around.'
Power, a foreign affairs columnist syndicated in dozens of papers
worldwide, makes three main points:
1) The West applies a
'hypocritical' double standard by
insisting that Iran stop its nuclear program while allowing Israel to
have the bomb.
2) Power blames Israel for Iran's emerging nuclear program,
asking: '[W]here is the source of the
threat that makes Iran... feel so nervous that it must now take the
nuclear road? If Saddam Hussein's Iraq, with its nuclear
ambitions, used to be one reason, the other is certainly Israel.'
3) Power claims that Israeli nukes never
had deterrence value, and certainly don't today, as Israel
faces
no 'catastrophic' threat.
Power errs on each of his points:
1) RESPONSIBLE VS.
IRRESPONSIBLE NUCLEAR PROGRAMS
Indeed, there is a double standard applied to Israeli vs. Iranian
nuclear programs ― an entirely justified double standard.
Israel is a thriving democracy, where all
citizens participate in government and have a voice, where even the
most disenfranchised can climb the social ladder, and where injustice can be righted. Democratic nations are characterized by
accountability, checks and balances, and recognition of
fundamental human rights ― essential elements for responsible nuclear
programs.
Iran, on the other hand, is a pure theocracy that
institutionalizes dhimmitude (subjugation of non-Muslim
peoples), engages in modern anti-Jewish
witch hunts under the pretext of stopping 'Zionist conspiracies,' and
hangs 'promiscuous' teenage girls in public squares with impunity.
Iran does not just happen to live in 'one of the world's most
dangerous neighborhoods,' as Power claims. Iran, along with Syria (see
HR Special Report), has created this danger. The
U.S.
State Department recognizes that Iran has provided financial aid,
arms, training camps, and safe haven to the deadliest terror groups ―
Hezbollah (Iran's proxy in Lebanon), Hamas, and the Palestinian
Islamic Jihad.
And while the
free world increasingly fears
WMDs and 'dirty bombs' falling into the
hands of Islamic terrorists (half of those surveyed in a recent
AP-Ipsos poll say
they 'have concerns that terrorists may be winning'), Iran maintains
strong, supportive ties with those terrorists.
As a theocracy with a fundamental lack of
accountability, Iran's nuclear program brings the free world's great
nightmare ― WMDs falling into the hands of Islamic terrorists ―
closer to reality.
2) ISRAEL - TO BLAME FOR IRAN'S NUCLEAR
PROGRAM?
While Power cites an Israeli
'threat' as the motivation for Iran's nuclear program, in fact Israeli leaders
had never challenged Tehran before that program advanced, nor did
Israel ever contribute to an armed attack on Iran.
By contrast, the Iranian Mullahs have been clamoring
for Israel's demise since the day they seized power in 1979. Witness
the Iranians' more
recent calls for the extermination of 'the Zionist Entity':
●
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenai explained in Jan.
2001 that 'the foundation of the Islamic regime is opposition to
Israel, and the perpetual subject of Iran is the elimination
of Israel from the region.'
● Khamenai said in a recent sermon that 'the cancerous
tumor called Israel must be uprooted from the region.'
● In Dec. 2001, former Iranian President Hashemi
Rafsanjani called the establishment of the Jewish state 'the worst
event in history,' and declared his intention to decimate Israel,
clarifying that 'one [nuclear] bomb is enough to destroy all
Israel,' and that 'in due time, the Islamic world will have a
military nuclear device.'
|
|
Iranian nuclear plant under construction |
Unfortunately,
it's not just talk. Iran actively supports anti-Israel terror through
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah. And recall that in January 2002,
Iran attempted to smuggle 50 tons of ammunition to Palestinians aboard
the ship Karin A. Iran's nuclear program is clearly an extension
of that aggression.
To claim, as Power does, that Iran is developing its nuclear program
in response to an Israeli 'threat' is simply a
fabrication of the historical record.
3) DETERRENCE AND ONGOING MORTAL THREAT
Power claims 'there is no evidence that Israel's nuclear weapons have
deterred the Arabs from more limited wars or prevented Palestinian
intifadas and suicide bombers. Nor have Israel's nuclear weapons
influenced Arab attitudes toward making peace.' Power cites the 1973
Arab war against Israel and the 1991 Gulf War as cases in point.
But Gerald M.
Steinberg, director of the Program on Conflict Management and
Negotiation at Bar-Ilan University, indicates that over three decades
Israel's nuclear deterrent is widely credited with offsetting the
asymmetries that encouraged major attacks, creating a degree of
stability, and convincing some Arab leaders, including Sadat, of the
need for peace.
Steinberg also credits the policy with forcing Egypt and Syria to
limit their attacks in the 1973 war, and with deterring Saddam Hussein
from using chemical warheads in the 1991 missile attacks against
Israel (when 39 of Iraq's conventional Scud missiles actually landed in Israel).
Regarding today's threats, Power brushes
them off, stating 'there is no evidence that Arab states have invested the
financial and human resources necessary to fight the kind of war that
would be catastrophic for Israel.'
But as any student of the Mideast knows, the one issue
that unites the Arab states ― the illegitimacy of 'the Zionist Entity'
― could at any time erupt. That eventuality must remain a cornerstone
of responsible Israeli defense policy.
* * *
ACTION ITEMS:
1)
Contact the International Herald Tribune to correct Jonathan Power's
distortions, using the points expressed above:
letters@iht.com
2) Be on the lookout for headlines or articles that
falsely equate Israeli actions with the growing Iranian nuclear
threat. For example:
● "Iran, Israel square off over nuclear facilities" (The
Globe and Mail, Sept. 23)
● "Iran, Israel Nuclear Tensions Rise" (AP, Aug. 21)
● "Tensions Escalating Between Arch Enemies Israel and Iran"
(AP, Aug. 20)
● "Analysis: Iran, Israel exchange threats" (UPI, Aug. 19)
When responding to the media, cite Iran's repeated calls to
annihilate Israel, Iran's well-documented support of worldwide Islamic
terror, and Israel's effective policy of nuclear deterrence, which has
actually enhanced regional stability.
HonestReporting
