Saudi Arabia to go Nuclear?
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, I mean, that the Middle East was a safer place, news like this creeps out in a foreign country--because our media is too weak-willed to print it themselves--Saudi Arabia is considering going nuclear.
Reported in The Guardian, they are pursuing this path because of the upheaval in the Middle East. Ewen MacAskill and Ian Traynor, reporting from Vienna, explained that UN officials and nuclear arms analysts said this Saudi review reflected the following:
1. "Riyadh's estrangement with Washington and the weakening of its reliance on the US nuclear umbrella."
2. "...Saudi worries about an Iranian programme and ... the absence of any international pressure on Israel, which has an estimated 200 nuclear devices."
3. "Riyadh is also worried about a string of apparent leaks in American papers from the US administration critical of Saudi Arabia."
Isn't that last point interesting? And here I was thinking the White House was hiding information this whole time. Seriously, though, this last point nearly seems like something someone would use to blackmail someone else.
What is most noteworthy about this news release is this information:
UN officials said there have been rumours going back 20 years that the Saudis wanted to pay Pakistan to do the research and development on nuclear weapons.
In 1988, Saudi bought from China intermediate-range missiles capable of reaching any part of the Middle East with a nuclear warhead.
Four years ago, Saudi Arabia sent a defence team to Pakistan to tour its secret nuclear facilities and to be briefed by Abdul Qader Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb.
News like this takes me back to all that cooked-up intelligence that Iraq was developing nuclear weapons that could strike London in 45 minutes. Of course, nothing has been found to substantiate this claim. And south of the Iraq border, the same country that raised 14 of the 19 hijackers, there has been development of nuclear programs. If I have not asked this question before, I ask it now: did we go to war after the right country?
(I have to credit this tidbit to Joshua Micah Marshall's site, The Talking Points Memo.)
On another front in the Middle East, Absit Invidia posts commentary regarding a news release stating that US intelligence sources are hinting that Syria has the WMD. The blog is cleverly called "Here We Go Again." Visit Steve over at Absit; he'll enlighten you.
On a sad note, we lost 3 more troops in an ambush today. These are ugly times.
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