statism watch

Haven’t seen a Canadian media outlet point out the fact yet today that it was Iran also recently moved for disarmament. On reflection, it’s an odd step for a diabolical nation intent on building such a fiendish deadly arsenal. While this may very well be hyperbole on Iran’s part, there is certainly no shortage of hyperbole from Netanyahu’s corner. (This UN measure was sponsored by Egypt, as Raw Story reports.) It’s a surprising and welcome move on Washington’s part to support this measure.

Related: MIddle East arms treaty a go despite US ‘deep regret’ over focus on Israeli nuclear arsenal | Disclosure of apartheid-era warhead negotiations with South Africa tip Israel’s nuclear hand | Obama starts massive US Air-Sea-Marine build-up opposite Iran | US claims Security Council backing for Iran sanctions | Iran brokers deal with Turkey for uranium enrichment | Dublin Trilateral attendees let slip need for world govt, war with Iran, Bilderberg oversight | UN-led uranium deal still on table: Iran | Robert Gates says White House lacks plan to deal with Iran nuclear threat | China sells petrol to Iran while talking at UN about sanctions | Nuclear summit urges anti-terror treaty | Enriched uranium going back to U.S.: PM | Iran unveils new uranium centrifuges | Barack Obama to limit use of US nuclear weapons | Russia claims breakthrough in historic nuclear reduction agreement with US | Israeli preparations for war with Iran troubling | Russia to push ahead on Iran missile deal | US media omission: Iran calls for global nuclear disarmament | Obama threatens actions against Iran over nuclear program | UN sanctions urged over Iran’s uranium plans | Western powers voice scepticism over Iran uranium offer | U.S. deploys land and sea-based missile shield in the Gulf to deter attack from Iran | UK: Tony Blair attempts to shift focus to Iran as ‘global threat’ at Iraq war inquiry | Chomsky says Israel, ‘US military base’ | Russia has no evidence of Iran nuclear bomb-Putin | IAEA members question Iran nuclear intel authenticity | US military could strike Iran, but at what cost? | Another War in the Works | Iran to allow nuclear site inspection | Iran plays into Obama’s hands with disclosure of nuclear facility | UN approves nuclear ‘disarmament’ resolution | Obama scales back missile defence shield in Europe | Israel ‘will attack Iran this year’ if West does not cripple Tehran with sanctions | Brookings Publication mentions possibility of ‘Horrific Provocation’ to Trigger Iran Invasion | Blast at Iranian mosque raises tensions in run-up to presidential election | Netanyahu: We may be forced to attack Iran | Proposed Missile Shield seen as Provocation by Russia | Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | Russia threatens to ’strike’ Poland in wake of U.S. missile plan | Cheney Considered False Flag Operation to Justify War with Iran | US scales up covert destabilization efforts in Iran, continues funding ‘al-Qaeda’ | Israelis ‘rehearse Iran attack’ | Israeli official says attack on Iran ‘unavoidable’ | Bush ‘plans Iran air strike by August’ | U.S. Navy starts exercises in Gulf waters | U.S. National Intelligence Estimate: Iran stopped nuclear weapons work in 2003 | Cheney Orders Media To Sell Attack On Iran | U.S. sending third aircraft carrier to the Middle East | US aircraft carriers in Persian Gulf | Investigative Reporter Seymour Hersh: US Indirectly Funding Al-Qaeda Linked Sunni Groups in Move to Counter Iran | How the USA Gave North Korea The Bomb | Former CIA Officer — US Plans Nuclear Attack On Iran

Amy Teibel, The Globe and Mail
May 30, 2010

Israel, thought to be the Middle East’s only nuclear power, has rejected a new UN demand to come clean about its secretive nuclear program, calling it a “deeply flawed and hypocritical” act that ignores the threat posed by its sworn enemy Iran.

Israel declared late Saturday that it would not take part in a 2012 conference on establishing a nuclear-free Middle East – an Arab-led initiative backed by top ally United States and the 188 other signatories to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

Although a series of U.S. conditions put the conference in doubt, the resolution, and the surprising U.S. support it received, added new pressure on Israel to give up what is almost universally believed to be a sizable nuclear arsenal. Israel refuses to confirm or deny the suspicions.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to discuss the resolution with President Barack Obama when the two meet in Washington Tuesday, the Israeli leader’s office said.

Netanyahu was in Canada on Sunday, and a government spokesman declined what contacts had been made with the U.S. over the resolution.

But an army radio reporter travelling with Netanyahu in Toronto said his office unsuccessfully lobbied the U.S. to block the resolution ahead of Friday’s vote.

Israel’s so-called policy of nuclear ambiguity is a cornerstone of its military deterrence. It has long said that a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace must precede such weapons bans.

Israel has never signed the non-proliferation treaty, which requires members to open nuclear facilities to inspection and to disarm. In its statement, it noted that since it’s not a member, it is not a party to the resolution.

“This resolution is deeply flawed and hypocritical: It ignores the realities of the Middle East and the real threats facing the region and the entire world,” the government statement said.

It “singles out Israel” yet “the terrorist regime in Iran, which is racing to develop nuclear weapons and which openly threatens to wipe Israel off the map, is not even mentioned in the resolution,” it added.

Despite its assertions to the contrary, Iran is widely suspected to be seeking to build nuclear weapons.

Israel sees Iran as its fiercest threat because of its nuclear program, its ballistic missiles capable of hitting the Jewish state and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s repeated references to Israel’s destruction.

The Arab proposal for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction was first endorsed at a 1995 non-proliferation conference but never acted on. At this month’s review of the treaty at UN headquarters, many delegates considered a conference to begin talks on a nuclear-free Middle East to be a critical part of the final resolution.

The review’s spotlight on Israel put the Jewish state in an uncomfortable position. While it tirelessly lobbies the international community to preventing Iran from acquiring atomic weapons, it insists on maintaining a veil of secrecy around its own nuclear capabilities.

Details and pictures leaked in 1986 to the Sunday Times of London by Mordechai Vanunu, a former technician at Israel’s Dimona nuclear plant, led foreign experts to conclude Israel has dozens of nuclear weapons.

After Friday’s vote, U.S. National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones said Middle East peace and full compliance by all countries in the region to their arms control and non-proliferation obligations “are essential precursors” of a nuclear-free Middle East.

The compliance demand appeared to be aimed at Iran, which is a party to the non-proliferation treaty.

Jones also faulted the resolution’s decision to single out Israel while failing to mention Iran, which he said poses the greatest threat of nuclear proliferation in the region.

A sticking point had been a passage naming Israel, reaffirming “the importance of Israel’s accession to the NPT,” a move that would require it to destroy its arsenal.

On the other hand, the final document did not single Iran out by name as a member nation that has been found to be in non-compliance with UN nuclear safeguards agreements.

Source | Alternate coverage 1 2 | See also under Militarization: Options studied for a possible Pakistan strike by US | US acknowledges mistaken attack on Afghan civilians | MIddle East arms treaty a go despite US ‘deep regret’ over focus on Israeli nuclear arsenal | Police detail G20 security zone | Cyber Command: We Don’t Wanna Defend the Internet (We Just Might Have To) | Israeli navy prepares for action as activists’ flotilla nears Gaza | Infrastructure security plan unveiled | Pentagon: Let us monitor your network or else | Toronto Police to take up to $100-million of G20 security funds | Homegrown terrorist threat to be part of new US National Security Strategy | Toronto police buy four ’sound cannons’ for G20 | North Korea reacts angrily as Seoul’s navy holds military exercises off coast | Toronto and Muskoka G8/20 Summit security costs hit $1.1B | Obama sending 1,200 troops to Mexico border | North Korea to sever ties with South | US appoints first cyber warfare general | Disclosure of apartheid-era warhead negotiations with South Africa tip Israel’s nuclear hand | The Toronto G20 Police State Crackdown | Darpa’s Self-Learning Software Knows Who You Are | Toronto police agree to erase security zone pass info after G20 | Obama starts massive US Air-Sea-Marine build-up opposite Iran | Toronto streets get 77 more surveillance cameras for G20 | Canada’s navy cuts coast patrol fleet in half | NSA head confirmed as chief of US cyber command | US drone attack ‘kills Pakistan insurgents’ | Predator drones to begin flying Texas border patrol in a matter of months | Pentagon Turns to Brain Implants to Repair Damaged Minds | Keeping America Safe: SWAT Team Storms Family Home, Shoots Pet Dogs, Over Small Bag Of Marijuana | CIA Drones No Longer Need a Name to Kill | Fighter jets buzz Toronto, Muskoka in G20 test runs | Couple Arrested At U.S. Border For Asking Questions | RCMP unveil new stun gun rules: Verbal warning, imminent harm required | Downtown Toronto To Be Transformed Into Locked-Down Police State This Summer | Police State Canada 2010 and the G20 Summit | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Launch of secret US space ship masks even more secret launch of new space missile platform | Waterloo firm creates ‘flying robot spies from the skies’ for global law enforcement market | U.S. combat jets buzzing Ont. border city | ‘Vast’ biometric database prompts troops to open fire on vehicle, 4 unarmed Afghans killed | U.S. Troops Apologize For Wikileaks Massacre Video | Toronto police disclose Tasers often used on mentally ill | UN-led uranium deal still on table: Iran | Afghan torture allegations erupt in UK | Militarized police integrate with private security for G20 Toronto concourse drill | Danger Room What’s Next in National Security Prospective U.S. Cyber Commander Talks Terms of Digital Warfare | Pakistan air strike ‘kills 71 civilians’ | Canada knew in 2007 Kandahar governor tortured prisoners in dungeon, bombed UN personnel | White House approves assassination of cleric linked to Christmas bomb plot | Small army to protect Toronto during G20 summit | Feds mulling plan to turn Parliament Hill into high-security zone | Barack Obama to limit use of US nuclear weapons | Controversial use of mercenary forces surges in Afghanistan | Afghan tension mounts as NATO offensive looms | US Airline Security Moves to Known Threat Descriptive Profiling | Recent mass grave of the ‘disappeared’ uncovered in Columbia | Cop Cleared By Grand Jury For Tasering Great Grandmother During Speeding Stop | Officers suspended after using Taser on 10-year-old | Raid on ‘unheard of’ Hutaree militia puzzles small town | The prison spending boom | Full Afghan withdrawal ‘wrong,’ top Tory says | Ontario report rewrites stun gun rules, somewhat | FBI raids in Washtenaw, Lenawee counties tied to Michigan militia group | Massive fortress Ottawa in the works | UK: Police Taser use ‘doubled’ in third quarter of 2009 | U.S. to press for Canada to keep troops in Afghanistan | Russia claims breakthrough in historic nuclear reduction agreement with US | Toronto G20 summit security to be ‘massive’ | British military intelligence ‘ran renegade torture unit in Iraq’ | RCMP needs 5,500 rooms during G20 summit | U.S. cybersecurity bill introduced in Senate | Body scans eventually mandatory, TSA official says | Planned random DUI checkpoints a violation of rights | Secret Document Calls Wikileaks ‘Threat’ to U.S. Army | Defence Department official used private contractors for spy network in AfPak | Public Safety Canada announces national plan to centralize operations in state of emergency | While Government Treats Citizens As Terrorists, Mexican Military Invades U.S. | Chicago police expanding Taser use | Cyberattacks push CSIS to reach out to business | An American Detention Bill You Ought to Read More Carefully | Canada wanted Afghan prisoners tortured: lawyer | Military trials possible for Sept. 11 terror suspects | Fingerprints Now Required to Shred (That Means Skateboard, Dude) | United States weighs massive expansion of Internet monitoring | UK: Mobile fingerprint scanner for English and Welsh police | Plan to put more police on Toronto transit | 1 in 3 Killed by U.S. Drone Attacks In Pakistan Are Civilians | Israeli preparations for war with Iran troubling | Downtown Toronto to become a fortress for G20 summit | Pentagon Discloses Hundreds of Reports of Possibly Illegal Intelligence Activities | Australia to fingerprint, face-scan visitors from Muslim nations | G8/G20: Gearing up for the biggest security event in Canadian history | Toronto braces for G20 disruption, Ottawa to pick up security tab | The truth about the Mossad | Iran could be making nuclear warhead, says new director of IAEA | USA: Fourth Amendment Trashed As Airport Tyranny Hits The Streets | RCMP to test Taser cameras | Report: France ‘deliberately’ used soldiers as ‘nuclear guinea pigs’ | UK Police use spy drone for first domestic arrest — without airspace clearance | Global security to top agenda of G8 foreign ministers | Five civilians killed in Nato rocket attack in Afghanistan | NATO’s novel battle tactic spawns opposite effects as 12 civilians killed | Russia to push ahead on Iran missile deal | Obama Making Plans to Use Executive Power | NATO, Afghan troops launch largest air assault of Afghan war | Report: ‘US to expand military centers in Pakistan’ | Vancouver police shut down several blocks, shopping mall to blow up fishing rod | Marjah, Afghanistan: Countdown To A Battle | Future police: Meet the UK’s armed robot drones | Obama threatens actions against Iran over nuclear program | Troops Randomly Patrol Streets In Pittsburgh in Wake of Snowfall, Respond To “Domestic Disputes” | CFB Trenton commander charged with murder | UN sanctions urged over Iran’s uranium plans | Elite Toronto police squad stops and questions thousands | Pentagon Looks to Breed Immortal ‘Synthetic Organisms,’ Molecular Kill-Switch Included | US Interrogation Squad Doing ‘Scientific Research’ | Domestic threats biggest Olympic security concern: expert | Washington DC transit system holds anti-terror drills | Hitchens: North Korean’s stature, worldview stunted by authoritarian hate and ignorance | U.S. deploys land and sea-based missile shield in the Gulf to deter attack from Iran | UN agency calls for global cyberwarfare treaty, ‘driver’s license’ for Web users | UK: Tony Blair attempts to shift focus to Iran as ‘global threat’ at Iraq war inquiry | Winnipeg police caught on video beating man | Blair defends decision to join U.S. in Iraq | Crotch bomber bill before Congress: Treat all ‘terrorism suspects’ as enemy combatants. Domestically. | Toronto Star Columnist Fiorito: The cops came and took my gun | Pentagon to Send More Special Forces Troops to Yemen | Military probes beating of Afghan prisoner | Obama’s War for Oil in Colombia | Pentagon calls for ‘Office of Strategic Deception’ | British and US troops to launch new Afghanistan offensive | The War on Terrorism and the Countdown to the 2010 Olympics | General McChrystal indicates talks with Taliban to be discussed | UK police plan to use military-style spy drones | UK: Photographers protest over terror search laws | Texas Schoolkids Tagged With GPS Tracking Devices | No new Taliban crackdowns for 6 months, Pakistan says | Congressman Ron Paul: After ‘CIA coup,’ agency ‘runs military’ | Olympic surveillance cameras causing concern | BATF Notice Bans Private Gun Sales In Texas | Regina police probe RCMP torture claims | War resister released from U.S. prison | Yemen forces ‘kill Al-Qaeda chief’ | UK: Anti-terror stop and search policy ruled illegal by European human rights court | Obama Executive Order Stokes Martial Law Fears | A North American Security Perimeter Coming Into View | North Korea calls for peace treaty with US | ‘No intention’ to invade Yemen: Obama | US Domestic Espionage Alert: Spy Drone Discovered | American cash gives Yemen a reason to join the hunt for al-Qaeda | Canada no longer a haven for war resisters | Ex-Blackwater contractors charged with Afghan killings | Airport security starts in the parking lot | PM Harper downplays detainee torture scandal, prorogation | Suspected US drone ‘kills 12′ in Pakistan | Body scanners coming to Canadian airports | UK: Full-body scanners being ordered for airports, says Gordon Brown | Group slams Chertoff on conflict of interest in scanner promotion | Britain, U.S. to fund Yemen anti-terror unit | For more see The Memory Hole — Militarization

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 30th, 2010 at 9:04 am and is filed under accountability, militarization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.