THE double standard adopted by the United States and its supporters when it comes to enforcing the treaty to check the spread of nuclear proliferation has prompted several countries to try to acquire weapon-grade nuclear technology clandestinely. Lack of sincerity in making the world safe from nuclear weapons would only defeat the purpose for which the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was devised and International Atomic Energy Agency established (IAEA).
In the 51st general conference of the IAEA, a move by Arab countries to keep the Middle East free from nuclear weapons was defeated. It was only because the United States wanted Israel to remain the sole nuclear power in the Middle East.
It is not only the US, several European countries also want Israel to retain its position as the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East, with the other countries denied the know-how to develop even nuclear energy.
Again with this aim, the Western countries try their best to foil any Arab attempt to discuss Israel’s nuclear weapons, even after Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert admitted to the Western media that his country had developed the dreaded weapons. The persistent Western stand was evident for a second time when they demanded a voting instead of making a unanimous decision on an Arab bill that called for the application of the safeguard regulations on all nuclear installations in the Middle East without exception. The Western nations objected to some of the clauses in the bill that were in fact a reproduction of the clauses in a bill against nuclear proliferation passed by the UN General Assembly in its 61st session.
The bill demanded that all nations in the region should abstain from developing, conducting tests or acquiring nuclear weapons. Neither should they permit nuclear weapons to be stored in any part of the Middle East. The bill sought to make the region totally free from weapons of mass destruction.
The bill also requested the cooperation of all the countries including the nuclear haves and have-nots in making the region a nuclear-free zone and not to take any move that would block those efforts.
Political analysts are, apparently, of the view that the ongoing Israeli efforts to acquire more advanced nuclear weapons would only spur an arms race and further destabilize the region and the rest of the world.
In fact, India, Pakistan and Iran were prompted to develop nuclear technology only because of the double standard adopted by the US and its allies, who look the other way when Israel develops and stockpiles the weapons of mass destruction while punishing other countries for trying to develop them. There are, it seems, several other countries that would like to achieve weapon grade nuclear capabilities through covert methods. They are only deterred by the NPT and IAEA.
