The 90`s

"In Perspective" 

Note: Written by Howard Barbanel, Published Week of September 9th, 1994

There are three classic movies from the 1960's that did much to sensitize Americans (and some say Soviets) to the dangers inherent in nuclear proliferation and missile-rattling.  One film was "On the Beach," starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner. The word destroys itself and the last outpost of humanity, Australia, only has a short time until it's engulfed by radiation.  This film was very tearful and touching. The other film, more satirical was "Dr. Stranglove," or "How I fell in Love with The Bomb."

"Dr. Stranglove" stars Peter Sellers and George C. Scott and shows the dire ramifications of loose nuclear controls and the whims of madmen.  The third film, "Planet of the Apes" (with Charlton Heston) demonstrates man's penchant for self-destruction, and in the sequel, mankind blows-up the earth with a super hydrogen bomb.

The people running Israel and America today obviously didn't see these films when they were showing in theaters and probably haven't run down to their local video store to rent them.  This is obvious based on some truly astonishing and ridiculous decisions taken in recent weeks by both governments. 

First on the list of bright decisions has been Israel's ongoing sales of kyrogenic triggers, which initiate nuclear explosions, to Egypt and Oman.

How did this get started?  As Barry Chamish and Joel Bainerman reported, Energy Minster Moshe Chachal gave Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak a geological map of the Sinai uranium deposits can be found.

Egypt (in partnership with Saudi Arabia) promptly started mining the stuff, no doubt for civilian uses only.  Selling American-manufactured nuclear triggers and helping the Arabs find uranium is all part of Foreign Minister Shimon Peres' plan to spread nuclear knowledge around the region, believing hat this will enhance the peace process and bring Israel and the Arabs closer together.  A lawsuit brought by an executive at Israel Aircraft Industries is pending in Israel's Supreme Court to block these sales.

The Saudis are engaged in a full-scale campaign to acquire nuclear weapons, this according to Muhammad al-Khilwei, the Saudi diplomat who recently received asylum here after "defecting" from Saudi Arabia in protest over their policies.  Al Khiweli purportedly has reams of documents to back these assertions up, which is why all parties concerned went along with his "defection" from an allied country.

Next on the list of big boo-boos is our country's decision to permit the sale of Saudi Arabia of a spy satellite that can take high-resolution pictures from a 2,000 mile radius and show detail with a resolution as fine as just three feet.  While control of the satellite will be in U.S. hands, the raw data generated by this satellite will be directly transmitted to Saudi Arabia. The security implications for Israel permitting Arab countries to look-in on Israel from above, renders Israel's entire defense apparatus naked.

The Clinton Administration is saying that if we don't sell this stuff, the Arabs will buy it from the Russians, the French of whomever.  The French aren't interested in selling this technology. Quoted in The New York Times, Jean-Daniel Levi, the director general of the French space agency said that "for us, beyond 15 feet (of high-resolution imagery) is military, and we do not believe this category of image should be offered for commercial sale."

Mind you, this satellite sale has been approved over the objections of the CIA, the Pentagon and Israel.  Unlike the AWACS controversy during the Regan years, American Jewry and Israel have been deafening in their silence on this satellite sale.  Protests have not been what you could call vociferous.

In the shadow of Pakistani Prime Minster Benazir Bhutto's visit to Yasser Arafat in Gaza is something that should really worry us.  Two weeks ago, former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif loudly declared that his country "could produce a nuclear bomb" and predicted a "nuclear holocaust" if India ever invaded.  What the Bhutto and Arafat discussing? Extending Pakistan's nuclear umbrella over his soon-to-be PLO state? Moving a Pakistani knight into check position against Israel? Eventual diversions of technology?  What if Pakistan goes the way of Iran religiously and becomes overtly hostile to Israel? For that matter what if Egypt's secular rulers are overthrown by the increasingly vocal fundamentalists? And what of Egypt's Israeli-supplied nuclear triggers and uranium?

The whipped-cream on the sundae here is the ever-increasing porousness of Russia's nuclear stockpiles.  Hungry scientists and administrators are letting enriched uranium out of the country for big bucks. Some of this has been intercepted by the Germans, but, as in the drug trade, we have to assume that for every interdiction there must be a few shipments that get through.  as Jackie Mason would say, "Mister, you understand what I'm talking about here?"

The broad implications of all these atoms flying about are all too-clear for Israel.  The specter of nuclear blackmail or heaven-forbid, destruction I looming far-off on the horizon.  Helping the Arabs obtain nuclear capability is the gravest form of folly, far surpassing even the deal with the PLO.  These are the apples of appeasement, falling all over the ground from what was once Israel's might tree.

Yitzhak Shamir, in his new book "Summing-up" hits the nail right on the head: "It is rare in the history of nations for a government to make so many mistakes in such a short time...This chapter in Israel's history will go down as the perfect example of how one can lose the war after winning so many battles."