-Caveat Lector- Print this article | Close this window In war, Israel retains the Samson option http://www.smh.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl? path=/articles/2002/09/20/1032054963247.html September 21 2002
In biblical times, the Israelites relied on God to triumph miraculously over their enemies. Modern Israelis rely for protection on weapons with God-like powers that could destroy entire nations. The frightening possibility that Israel may unleash these weapons of mass destruction is preoccupying strategic planners and analysts as the United States prepares to attack Iraq, because Israel is a likely target for retaliation by Baghdad. In the 1991 Gulf War Saddam Hussein hit Israel with Scud missiles. But he used only conventional warheads, which did not cause significant casualties. This helped the US to make a deal with Israel's then prime minister, Yitzhak Shamir, not to fire back at Iraq. Would both countries show such restraint in a future war? Saddam has good cause to think twice about going a step further and using biological or chemical weapons against Israel, as the consequence could be that he and his country might cease to exist. Israel, of course, does not officially admit that it has nuclear weapons. Since 1965 it has "refused to confirm or deny", although it has said that it "will not be the first to introduce them into the Middle East". It has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, saying it cannot rely on international safeguards when it is in a permanent state of war with much of the Arab world. In declarations to the United Nations, Israel has instead offered to negotiate a multi-lateral agreement involving all the nations in the region to transform the Middle East into a nuclear-free zone. Shimon Peres, the Foreign Minister, has offered the clearest public admission that Israel has nuclear weapons. "We felt that the reason why Israel was attacked five times, without any provocation, was because some of our neighbours thought they could overpower us, and we wanted to create a situation in which this temptation would no longer exist," he said. The rest of the world is in no doubt. In 1999 the US Department of Energy ranked Israel, one of the smallest countries on Earth, sixth among nations possessing nuclear weapons. And many believe it would be prepared to use them. As Israel's most respected military affairs commentator, Ze'ev Schiff, has put it: "If Iraq strikes at Israel with non-conventional warheads, causing massive casualties among the civil population, Israel could respond with a nuclear retaliation that would eradicate Iraq as a country." The possibility of Israel using its secret arsenal against Iraq was first raised in the Gulf War by the then US defence secretary, Dick Cheney, who is now Vice-President. "This assessment has only been strengthened since then, because, according to all the signs, Iraq now has biological weapons that could cause mass casualties," Schiff wrote. "According to one assessment, military-grade biological weapons could be almost as lethal as a nuclear bomb." Anthony Cordesman, a fellow at the Centre for Strategic Affairs, told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee he believed Israel would respond with nuclear strikes against Iraq if there was a "lethal biological strike on an Israeli city". The American journalist Seymour Hersh has referred to the "Samson option", referring to the biblical figure who pushed apart pillars to bring down a temple in Gaza, killing 3000 Philistines and himself. "Should any Arab nation fire missiles again at Israel ... a nuclear escalation, once unthinkable except as a [last] resort, would now be a strong possibility," Hersh wrote more than 10 years ago. He also wrote at the time that "the size and sophistication of Israel's arsenal allow men such as Ariel Sharon to dream of redrawing the map of the Middle East, aided by the implicit threat of nuclear force". Hersh may not have foreseen that Mr Sharon would be Prime Minister today. But Mr Sharon does not rule alone and he will have plenty of advice that the nuclear option is strictly a last resort. In particular, Mr Peres will be arguing that the weapon's greatest power is to bring Arab leaders to the negotiating table, not to their knees. This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/09/20/ 1032054963247.html <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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