Israel Believes Iran Can Build Nuclear Weapons

Israel Believes Iran Can Build Nuclear Weapons

(NSI News Source Info) JERUSALEM - March 9, 2009: Iran is now capable of producing atomic weapons, Israel's top military intelligence officer said Sunday, sounding the highest-level warning that Israel's arch-enemy has achieved independent nuclear capability. At a Cabinet meeting, the chief of military intelligence, Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, did not say Iran already has an atomic bomb, participants said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, center, convenes the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, March 8, 2009. However, he said, Iran has "crossed the threshold" and has the expertise and materials needed for one. The participants spoke on condition of anonymity because the Cabinet meeting was closed. They said Yadlin told them that Iran continues to accumulate uranium for enrichment and hopes to exploit the Obama administration's intention to open a dialogue as a cover for developing nuclear weapons. Yadlin's comments follow a similar assessment by the U.S. military chief, Adm. Mike Mullen. He said a week ago that Iran has enough fissile material to build a bomb now. Israeli officials have long identified a nuclear Iran as the most serious threat to the Jewish state. Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has repeatedly called for destruction of Israel, and Iran has tested long-range missiles that could strike Israel. Israel's long-held policy is that the world must cooperate to defuse the Iranian nuclear threat. While not directly threatening to take out Iran's nuclear facilities, Israel has avoided taking the military option off the table. Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, who is putting together the next Israeli government, for years has said that Iran represents an existential threat to the Jewish state. He is seen as more likely than other Israeli leaders to order an attack. However, most experts believe that wiping out the Iranian nuclear program is beyond the ability of Israel's military. In 1982 the Israeli air force destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor in a lightning strike, but Iran's facilities are scattered around the country, some of them underground. Iran says its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes. Israel has been watching carefully how Washington develops its policy toward Iran. Unlike his predecessor, George W. Bush, President Barack Obama has called for diplomatic contacts with Iran as a way of persuading its rulers to drop their nuclear ambitions. In talks last week with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Israeli officials raised concerns about Iran's intentions and questions about the Obama administration's approach. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he did not object in principle to the idea of U.S-Iran talks, but he warned that Iran could use the contacts to stall while it readies its nuclear arsenal. Olmert said that would be unacceptable. Israeli strategic analyst Yossi Alpher said Yadlin's determination must be taken seriously. "It clearly renders the entire issue of how to deal with Iran both for the Obama administration and for Israel more urgent," he said. "It affects possible diplomatic initiatives, sanctions and the military option." Last week an Iranian leader declared that Iran's missiles can strike all of Israel's nuclear facilities. The main Israeli reactor is in the southern Negev desert, and a smaller research reactor is closer to the center of the country. Experts quoted in foreign publications believe Israel has several hundred nuclear weapons. Israel neither confirms nor denies reports about its nuclear capabilities.

Pakistan Defends Freedom For Rogue Nuclear Scientist

Pakistan Defends Freedom For Rogue Nuclear Scientist

(NSI News Source Info) February 8, 2009: Pakistan is defending its decision to free a scientist who admitted to selling nuclear secrets, amid criticism from the United States and India.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry says Saturday Abdul Qadeer Khan is no longer a threat because his smuggling network has been dismantled, and controls are in place to make sure there are no more leaks of secret information.

Disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, right, walks with opposition leader Imran Khan, left, after their meeting at his residence in Islamabad, Pakistan on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009. Pakistan defended Saturday the easing of restrictions on Khan, saying the man who once confessed to passing nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya no longer posed a risk because his smuggling network had been dismantled.

U.S. officials called Khan's release "unfortunate" and "regrettable," demanding assurances that Khan can no longer pose any danger.

India says the international community should consider declaring Pakistan a terrorist state. Manish Tewari, a spokesman for the ruling Congress party says defending Khan proves Pakistan exports terrorism, and also gives rise to concerns of countries such as the U.S. that nuclear weapons could reach terrorists.

Khan is considered the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb but admitted to leaking nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea in 2004.

Pakistan's High Court freed the 72-year-old Khan Friday, after five years of house arrest. The court said Khan will still be subject to some security measures. Separately, India's army chief said today the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan is, as he put it, "existing and active." General Deepak Kapor says the number of militant camps in Pakistan has been on the rise.

Many Pakistanis see Khan as a hero despite worldwide condemnation after his international nuclear deals were exposed. Khan told reporters outside his Islamabad home he will not cooperate with foreign investigations into his nuclear proliferation network.

Pakistan's Nuke Technology, A Chinese Contribution? / China Is a Rogue Nuclear State

Pakistan's Nuke Technology, A Chinese Contribution? / China Is a Rogue Nuclear State (NSI News Source Info) Washington - January 4, 2009: Did People's Republic of China help Pakistan to achieve nuclear facility? Did China play any role to spoil the peaceful relation between India and Pakistan? 'Yes' says US Air Force Secretary Thomas Reed. Reed claimed that China had tested for Pakistan its first nuclear bomb in 1990s. In an interview to 'US News and World Report' new magazine Reed said, "The Chinese did a massive training of Pakistani scientists, brought them to China for lectures, even gave them the design of the CHIC-4 device, which was a weapon that was easy to build a model for export." A weapons designer at Livermore National Laboratory, Reed had co-authored a new book, 'The Nuclear Express: A Political History of the Bomb and Its Proliferation' with Danny Stillman (the former director of Technical Intelligence Division, LosAlamos National Laboratory). The book accuses China of internationally proliferating nuclear technology and said that the nation has helped 'risky regimes' like Pakistan to achieve this. Reed told to the magazine that China gave nuclear technology to Pakistan as 'India was China's enemy and Pakistan was India's enemy. He said, "Under the then Pakistan President Benazir Bhutto, the country built its first functioning nuclear weapon. We believe that during Benazir's term in office, the PeoplesRepublic of China tested Pakistan's first bomb for her in 1990." He also pointed out various reasons to believe this including the design of the weapon and information gatheredfrom discussions with Chinese nuclear experts. "That's why the Pakistanis were so quick to respond to the Indian nuclear tests in 1998. It only took them two weeks and three days," Reed added. It is up to the rulers and people of both the democratic nations to decide whether India and Pakistan should still continue to fall prey for vested interests or should work for their own development. Nuclear technology whether possessed by developing or developed nation, both ways is harmful. Did China play any role in adding fuel to fury is yet to be known. But a joint efforts from both India and Pakistan and also cooperation from International community is a must to eradicate the menace of terrorism and militancy. Additional Info: Related Topic China Is a Rogue Nuclear State Gordon G. Chang - 01.03.2009 - 4:22 PM (NSI News Source Info) January 4, 2009: China, charges Thomas Reed, is continuing to transfer uranium and nuclear technology to Iran. In an interview posted yesterday on the U.S. News & World Report website, the former U.S. Air Force Secretary also refers to Beijing’s use of the North Koreans to distribute nuclear and missile technology to Syria, Pakistan, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen in addition to Iran. Why did the Chinese decide to proliferate nuclear weapons technology? “They did so deliberately with the theory that if nukes ended up going off in the western world from a Muslim terrorist, well that wasn’t all bad,” Reed says, citing a decision made by Deng Xiaoping in 1982. “If New York was reduced to rubble without Chinese fingerprints on the attack, that left Beijing as the last man standing.” Reed is correct when he points out that China has been a rogue nuclear state for a long time. In fact, China was helping Pakistan build a bomb as early as 1974, long before Deng took power in 1978. So, for more than three decades, the Chinese have been spreading the world’s most destructive technology to Islamic fanatics. We can understand why Beijing would wish us harm, yet it is difficult to comprehend why successive American administrations, especially those of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, have failed to speak out about Chinese proliferation, even when Beijing had been caught red-handed. These two presidents, as powerful as they were, may not have had the means to stop China’s transfer of nuclear technology, yet they failed to sanction Beijing or even speak out about what was happening. Both of them were responsible for many failures during their times in office, but these are by far the worst. Washington evidently believes that, if we do not criticize the Chinese in public, one day they will eventually stop proliferating. As Reed notes, many younger officials in Beijing realize the lunacy of their country’s pro-proliferation policies-he suggests they don’t want to incinerate Los Angeles because they can’t then sell us sneakers-but at this time there is no consensus in the Chinese capital to change course from Mao’s and Deng’s policies. By the time China becomes a responsible nuclear power, it will undoubtedly be too late. By refusing to oppose those who wish us harm, we are creating the conditions for our own destruction.