(Jerusalem Post) Editorial - On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Washington and Cairo were negotiating a proposal to turn the Middle East into "a region free of nuclear weapons." Considering the fact that Israel is, reportedly, the only country in the Middle East with a nuclear capability, this would mean that the U.S. had agreed to discuss with Egypt putting pressure on Israel to disarm itself of nuclear warheads. The dangerous impression being created is of a nuclear-capable Israel being equated with a nuclear-capable Iran - an approach that fails to make the distinction between Israel, the Middle East's only democracy, and Iran, a despotic regime run by rapacious Shi'ite fanatics that openly persecutes homosexuals, promotes misogyny, brutally puts down political protest and shammed its last elections. Not many fair-minded people, including in this region, have lost sleep over the fact that responsible Israel reportedly has nuclear warheads. Much of this region is profoundly panicked by the specter of a nuclear Iran. If we take Ahmadinejad's statements at face value, and there is no reason why we should not, he wants to "wipe Israel off the map," and to focus, too, on the "big Satan" America. Instead of allowing Egypt to sidetrack it with talk of disarming Israel, the U.S. should focus on galvanizing the international community to stop Iran.
2010-05-05 08:47:23Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive