nuclear-news

Hypocrisy in nuclear disarmament

Nuclear Armament: Scandalous Hypocrisies, Middle East online, by Immanuel Wallerstein – 1 July 12, Everyone is lying through their teeth. Countries are not working to avoid a nuclear catastrophe. They are working to maintain and/or improve their geopolitical position vis-à-vis their presumed antagonists,  ……. the United States
made an attempt to close the club to further members. They promoted a
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT), which essentially offered a
deal. If everyone else (other than the five) would renounce developing
nuclear weapons, they would get in return two things: (1) the right to
develop the peaceful uses of atomic energy; and (2) a promise by the
nuclear five that they would negotiate a reduction in their nuclear
arsenals, heading towards an eventual zero point.

The whole world signed this treaty, except three countries: Israel,
India, and Pakistan. All three proceeded to develop nuclear weapons.
And despite initial reprimands of various sorts, the uninvited members
of the club became de facto members.

There have been from the start two problems with the deal. The first
problem is that none of the nuclear five (and even less the additional
three) had ever had the least intention to reduce its nuclear arsenal,
and they have never done so. Most recently, in order to get the U.S.
Congress to ratify an extension of the NNPT when the initial
twenty-five years envisaged in the treaty expired, President Obama
announced the upgrading of U.S. weapons. This no doubt is being
emulated by all other nuclear powers.

The second problem was a technical one that had enormous political
implications. It seems that, in order to ensure the so-called peaceful
uses of atomic energy, a country needs to achieve levels of technical
competence such that it is very easy, then, to go one step further and
build nuclear weapons. This right, however, was the big carrot that
had been offered to non-nuclear powers to agree not to
“proliferate.”…..
That leaves us where we are today. The nuclear five (and no doubt the
nuclear right) are “improving” their weapons. Simultaneously, the
United States (and some others) is trying hard to deny non-nuclear
powers the one right they had in the treaty that they had signed. This
is the issue being debated with Iran. What the United States and
Israel argue vociferously is that Iran cannot be trusted to exercise
the right the treaty gives Iran because Iran will then, whatever it
says now, go one step further. And, they imply, Iran will use the bomb
to attack Israel.

North Korea has withdrawn from the NNPT (albeit a bit ambiguously),
and is now the ninth nuclear power. A whole series of countries are in
fact going down the same path as Iran, that is, augmenting the
technical level of their nuclear processes. But the United States
seems to think they are more “trustworthy” and is therefore not making
a public scandal about it.

Everyone is lying through their teeth. Countries are not working to
avoid a nuclear catastrophe. They are working to maintain and/or
improve their geopolitical position vis-à-vis their presumed
antagonists. Nobody wants a bomb in order to drop it on someone else.
Everyone wants a bomb so that none will be dropped on them.

This is a total stalemate, and will continue to be one. It is in no
country’s self-interest to make concessions. The world is therefore
moving towards proliferation all over the place….
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=53139

July 2, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general