[Peace-discuss] Just when you think Obama can't do worse...

[C. G. Estabrook]

	Obama Administration: Israel Has ‘Right’ to Nukes
	Call for a Nuclear Free Middle East 'a Mistake'
	by Jason Ditz, July 07, 2010

A statement released yesterday by the Obama Administration has made public 
America’s long-standing support for the Israeli government’s large, undeclared 
nuclear arsenal, and insists that Israel has an inherent “right” to possess such 
an arsenal for “deterrence purposes.”

Officials have also reportedly acknowledged that the Obama Administration has 
labeled its previous support for a “nuclear-free Middle East,” including a vote 
in favor of this at a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference, had 
been “a mistake.”

The Obama Administration complained at the time of the vote that it unfairly 
“singled out” Israel, apparently oblivious to the fact that Israel is the only 
nation in the Middle East with nuclear weapons, as well as the only nation which 
is not a signatory of the NPT.

Israel has ruled out ever signing the NPT, though it has called for the treaty 
to be strengthened to punish signatories like Syria and Iran for what it 
perceives as “violations.” Israel has likewise never publicly acknowledged the 
size of its nuclear arsenal, though the fact that it exists is not generally 
considered a secret.