A Giant Leap Towards The Apocalypse

Possibly the greatest threat from a nuclear armed Iran is that of a terrorist attack carried out using nuclear weaponry supplied by Iran's government. The mad mullahs running Iran's theocracy have shown no moral qualms at any time during their thirty years in power about sponsoring terrorism that has caused the mass slaughter of innocents. Is there any reason to believe that they would not deploy atomic weapons if they had them?

Possibly the only thing worse then Iran having an arsenal of nuclear weapons would be if Saudi Arabia had such weapons. While the House of Saud is friendly to the U.S. because of economic interests, the Wahhabi clerics and the millions they influence with the preaching of triumphalism and jihad hold no such love. Indeed, it is their teachings and the spread of the Wahhabi / Salafi sect of Islam around the world that is at the heart of radical Islam. Thus, this news today is incredibly disqueiting:

Two years ago, the leaders of Saudi Arabia told international atomic regulators that they could foresee no need for the kingdom to develop nuclear power. Today, they are scrambling to hire atomic contractors, buy nuclear hardware and build support for a regional system of reactors.

So, too, Turkey is preparing for its first atomic plant. And Egypt has announced plans to build one on its Mediterranean coast. In all, roughly a dozen states in the region have recently turned to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna for help in starting their own nuclear programs. While interest in nuclear energy is rising globally, it is unusually strong in the Middle East.

“The rules have changed,” King Abdullah II of Jordan recently told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. “Everybody’s going for nuclear programs.”

The Middle East states say they only want atomic power. Some probably do. But United States government and private analysts say they believe that the rush of activity is also intended to counter the threat of a nuclear Iran.

By nature, the underlying technologies of nuclear power can make electricity or, with more effort, warheads, as nations have demonstrated over the decades by turning ostensibly civilian programs into sources of bomb fuel. Iran’s uneasy neighbors, analysts say, may be positioning themselves to do the same.

. . .with Shiite Iran increasingly ascendant in the region, Sunni countries have alluded to other motives. Officials from 21 governments in and around the Middle East warned at an Arab summit meeting in March that Iran’s drive for atomic technology could result in the beginning of “a grave and destructive nuclear arms race in the region.”

In Washington, officials are seizing on such developments to build their case for stepping up pressure on Iran. President Bush has talked privately to experts on the Middle East about his fears of a “Sunni bomb,” and his concerns that countries in the Middle East may turn to the only nuclear-armed Sunni state, Pakistan, for help.

. . . few if any states in the Middle East attended the atomic agency’s meetings on nuclear power development. Now, roughly a dozen are doing so and drawing up atomic plans.

The newly interested states include Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen and the seven sheikdoms of the United Arab Emirates — Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Al Fujayrah, Ras al Khaymah, Sharjah, and Umm al Qaywayn.

“They generally ask what they need to do for the introduction of power,” said R. Ian Facer, a nuclear power engineer who works for the I.A.E.A. at its headquarters in Vienna. The agency teaches the basics of nuclear energy. In exchange, states must undergo periodic inspections to make sure their civilian programs have no military spinoffs. . . .

Read the entire article here. It is no surprise that the Saudis are seeking a nuclear weapon, given the threat that Iran poses to their country. It is imperative that we stop Iran's quest for a nuclear weapon and that we do so in the very near future, as the mortal threat posed by Iran having a nuclear arsenal almost pales in comparison to thoughts of nuclear proliferation in Saudi Arabia and throughout the Middle East.