- Following the military action against Iraq, people in
many Arab and Muslim countries are fearing implementation of a biased U.S.
agenda, especially when it comes to the Arab-Israel conflict or the capabilities
of Muslim countries. Washington is now questioning the nuclear capabilities
of several Muslim countries or their quest to acquire it.
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- Turning a blind eye towards the nuclear weapons programme
of Israel, the U.S. administration considers it as a measure in "self-defence".
For many Arab and Muslim countries this is a "double standard"
and they are even viewing the roadmap for the Middle East suspiciously.
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- The failure of the Bush administration to justify action
against Iraq, the botched efforts in finding WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction),
and confessions of wrong intelligence cannot bring a good name to the U.S.
Polices, affecting the lives of millions of people, sustain international
support until they hold legal and moral authenticity and the backing of
a judicious and unbiased government.
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- "It is, of course, a double standard. Why do they
[the U.S.] not object to the Israeli nuclear programme?" said Dr.
Ibrahim A'shemsi, Assistant Professor at the Department of Mass Communication
of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at the UAE University
in Al Ain.
-
- The overt and covert pressure on Pakistan, Iran, and
other countries is incomprehensible to Dr. A'shemsi who takes it as a biased
policy that has been further fueling anti-American sentiments in the Muslim
world.
-
- The Americans are the only nuclear country that used
this horrific power twice against Japan, killing innocent people. In the
present international political and military scenario, no sane country
can even think of bringing such a holocaust to mankind. It has, actually,
been serving as a deterrent against war.
-
- Nuclear technology is also being used for peaceful purposes
in many countries around the world. "If it is a threat, all nuclear
powers should first destroy their weapons and then stop others from developing
it,' he said.
-
- The Americans, he said, kept on saying Iraq possessed
WMD and later used them as a ploy to thrust a military action upon it.
"But did they find anything?" said Dr. A'shemsi, hinting at the
U.S. intentions to take action that serves its own interest.
-
- Dr. Husam Mohammed Sultan Al Ulama, Dean of the UAE University
Libraries, said that Israel had widely been believed to have a sophisticated
nuclear weapons programme. Israel has several nuclear facilities.
-
- Two of Israel's facilities are well known to the world
- a nuclear reactor at Dimona in the Negev desert, and a smaller nuclear
research facility at Nahal Sorek south of Tel Aviv. Dimona is believed
to house Israel's military nuclear capability.
-
- He also declared U.S. policy as biased towards Arab and
Muslim countries. One has to believe this way when the U.S. pronounced
the Israeli programme as a measure for self-defence though it previously
declared Israel a sensitive country for not signing the nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT).
-
- The U.S. has been training Israeli nuclear scientists
since the 1950s, and providing nuclear related technology, including a
small research reactor in 1955 under the so-called "Atoms for Peace"
programme. France also helped Israel in building a uranium reactor and
plutonium reprocessing plant in the Negev desert, called Dimona.
-
- Dr. Husam said countries in the Middle East have no intention
to build nuclear weapons but want to maintain peace and security and utilise
their potentials and modern technologies for the development of human resources.
-
- Israel is the only country in the Middle East that has
been developing nuclear weapons and it is an open secret. It possesses
more than 200 nuclear warheads and six nuclear stations.
-
- "One-sided pressure on Iran, Pakistan and other
countries that have or are developing nuclear technologies is not fair.
International regulations should be implemented equally on all countries
of the world," he added.
-
- The biased intentions are clearly evident from the U.S.
act of leaving Israel aside and coming down heavily upon the nuclear programmes
of first Iraq and then Iran, Syria, and Pakistan. "It means they [the
U.S.] are giving a free hand to Israel to do what it wants to do,"
said Dr. Hussar.
-
- In this way, the U.S. wants to ensure Israel is the only
nuclear weapons possessing country in the Middle East. However, he warned
that this would make the situation worse in the region. The U.S. knows
clearly that Israel has a very strong defence industry and now has become
the sixth largest weapons exporter in the world. It is even exporting defence
equipment to America, the UK and other highly developed countries, he said.
-
- Israel's military capabilities, expansionism, aggressive
designs, and occupation of Arab lands in clear violation of the UN resolutions
are enough evidence for proving it as a threat to Arab and Muslim countries.
"Arab and Muslim countries do not constitute a threat to Israel in
any way," he maintained.
-
- Arab countries want peace in the region through a just
solution of the Palestine problem. Several Arab and Muslim countries, such
as Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, and Palestine National Authority, either have
diplomatic relations or are in different agreements with Israel.
-
- Talking about Israel-Syria relations, Dr. Husam said
that Israel had been occupying Syrian territory of Golan Heights. The relations
between these two countries can be normalised by vacating the occupied
territory. "In my view, it's wrong to say that Arabs are a threat
to Israel," he said.
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- People in Muslim countries believe that the U.S. and
other major powers in the world should focus on solving political disputes
of the Muslim countries. It is natural that there is smoke where there
is fire. If the U.S. and other countries are facing Muslim anger, they
should realise that crushing Muslim discontent through force or thrusting
bias policies upon them would not bring peace and stability.
-
- Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf also advised
the U.S. administration, during his recent visit to Washington, to solve
the political dispute confronting the Muslim world for winning hearts and
support of the Muslims.
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- http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/Opinion.asp?ArticleID=93706
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