Read this portion of the article and have a chuckle:
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Iran has placed some of its facilities, such as the large Natanz enrichment plant, in protected underground sites. Teheran has vowed to retaliate against any attack, and at one point said it might launch pre-emptive strikes if it felt threatened.
Seeking to underline the point, Iran showed off its ballistic missiles at an annual military parade in Teheran near the mausoleum of Iran's revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Khomeini. A banner proclaiming "Israel must be wiped off the map" was draped on the side of a 450-mile Shahab-2 missile. Another saying "We will crush America under our feet" graced a trailer carrying a 930-mile Shahab-3 missile.
"The Shahab-3 missiles, with different ranges, enable us to destroy the most distant targets," said the commentary.
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Yeah, but we have a "foothold in the region" in Iraq and we have made great strides in the war on terror with our presence there. Plus we have nations like Syria and Iran shaking in their turbans with fear. Umm...reality check...we have created and continue to contribute to the most dangerous situation in the history of the Middle East. Not only that but we are actually violating our own law by selling these bombs to Israel because Israel has an undeclared nuclear program which, according to our law, requires us to severely limit or cut off aid to Israel. Nevermind selling them bombs. This really is no big secret but you'll hardly hear a whisper about it in the press. Our press anyway...I'm sure it's widely reported worldwide how the United States government is a bunch of hypocrites...not like hypocricy is a big deal in government. And people wonder why these people are so suspicious of the United States.
Here's Jefferson Morley of the Washington Post responding to a question about this very subject:
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Boston, Mass.: M. Vanunu is due to be released from prison this week, and the Israeli government has placed strong restrictions on him to prevent him from leaving the country. There was an interesting story in the Boston Globe about this mentioning that if he testified before Congress about Israel's Dimona reactor, the State Department would have to cut foreign aid to Israel as a result of a U.S. law that severely restricts foreign aid to countries with undeclared nuclear programs. Do you think this is accurate or even possible, or would Congress never agree to let him testify? Does it appear that the restrictions on his movement will be upheld by the Israeli supreme court, and is it likely he could receive asylum in the U.S. or Europe? How is the world press covering his release?
Israel's undeclared nuclear program is an open secret. The chances of the U.S. cutting off aid to Israel about it are about as great Vanunu's chances of testifying.
Vanunu's release and the conditions on it are the subject of some debate in Israel. I don't think anyone knows how the Israeli court will rule. I doubt he will get (or want) asylum in the U.S. Europe seems a better bet.
His story is getting worldwide attention.
In Israel, there's a story in today's edition of Maariv. See link below.
washingtonpost.com: Why muzzle Vanunu
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Nice huh?
