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Nuclear-Weapon States Aren't Created Equal

(Wall Street Journal) Warren Kozak - Between July 16, 1945, the day the U.S. tested the first atomic device in New Mexico and realized that it actually worked, and Aug. 29, 1949, when the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb, the U.S. held a nuclear monopoly. Yet between 1945 and 1949, America's friends and enemies lost very little sleep, because the idea of the U.S. using its great nuclear advantage to take over the world was ludicrous to all but the most irrational minds. Similarly, it has been widely speculated that Israel has had a nuclear monopoly in the Middle East for perhaps half a century. Yet when the Saudis or Syrians or Egyptians have turned off their lights during this period, the last worry on their minds has been an Israeli nuclear bomb. In spite of a world-wide chorus of detractors, the sound mind understands that Israel is one of the few rational actors. Israel has never threatened the existence of its neighbors or threatened to wipe another country off the map. It has never held large "Death to (fill in the country) rallies" in its public squares. In fact, Israel's public demonstrations have consisted of peace rallies, musical concerts, gay-pride rallies and public mourning of its victims of terror. A British bomb? No one says boo. But people rightly grow anxious when the irrational mind with greater and greater global ambitions takes control of this deadly weaponry. And this anxiety increases further when those irrational minds have proven time and again their determination to create havoc.
2012-08-28 00:00:00
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