Thursday, October 28, 2010

Geopolitical Armament: Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal


Geopolitical Armament: Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal

Monaem Sarker


History teaches us that when small warlords start territorial expansion to ultimately create an empire, the inevitable plunder and looting crushes vast majority of conquered people resulting in the “primitive accumulation’ of wealth. However unpalatable to a human sensibility, it is dialectically true for the total span of human existence on earth, dialectical because down the memory lane, we find that the best of the arts and cultural legacy was born under the most fierce and aggressive powers.
This same vile strain of sacrificing the collectives for individuals or oligarchy and calling it a normal feature of history is still manifested in the foreign policies of today’s super powers. History teaches us that every war had been fought on the basis of domination and plunder through control over resources of the weak nations. Weapons have been a tool for opening up trade routs by subjugation and plundering of the occupied populace.
The so called ‘civilization’ of the pre-emptive super powers is always rooted in the most barbarian and uncivilized atrocities to snatch wealth, first from the royal coffer and in later days from the common people by the help of local cronies. It constitutes the very fabric of the recent pre-emptive and xenophobic invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, loosening the demon of destruction, plunder and atrocities on the innocent populations. So called Globalization and coercive manipulations of trade by the super powers is yet another disguise for wanton plunder.
European aggression in North and South America plundered vast resources to fuel industrialization and reinforce fire-power as a means of indiscriminate looting and genocide around the world. Thus, England became the empire where ‘the sun never sets’ by the end of the 19th century. Then the World Wars of 1914 and 1939 made America the biggest fire-power and store of wealth, meticulously breaking away the British Empire. Later on, the US and the West European super powers got together in this game of subjugation and plunder. They even got the Soviet Union on their side during the Second World War. This was short-lived as cold war between the US and the Soviets emerged.

Imperialisms in the Middle East
As the Roman Empire in the West was overwhelmed by barbarians, the people of Turkistan accepted the Islam, allied with other Arabs and Muslims and defeated the Byzantine (Eastern) half of the "Holy Roman Empire." This was the Islamic/Ottoman (Turkish) empire, which reached its zenith under the rule of Suleiman the Magnificent in 1550 A.D.
As Western power shifted from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic seaboard, a series of defeats marked the turning point of Islamic Ottoman fortunes in the East. They suffered a horrendous defeat in 1683 trying to take Vienna and lost several other cities, including Athens, to the Christians. At this time Russia, under Peter the Great, joined the Holy Alliance against the Turks; the inexorable crushing of the Islamic Ottoman Empire had begun. The Moslem empire steadily gave ground. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire was imminent, and European powers started positioning themselves to claim the spoils. France sought to maintain influence in Jerusalem, Egypt, Algeria, and later, Tunisia. Its building of the Suez Canal (1859-1869) conflicted with Britain's plans to control the land and sea routes to Asia. While jockeying for position in the Middle East, France and England joined forces to prevent Russian expansion from getting out of hand in the Balkans (Crimean War, 1854-1856).
The provinces of Algeria and Tunisia were the first to break away (1830 and 1881) from the Ottoman Empire. Though nominally still a Turkish province and coveted by France, Egypt was effectively taken over by Britain in 1881. In 1911, Italy invaded Libya and Turkey lost control in Africa. The ostracized German nation became an ally of Turkey. They built the Berlin-to-Baghdad Railway and trained the Turkish army. In 1912, in the Balkan war Ottomans lost almost all territory west of the Bosporus and much of that was later regained in 1913.

World War I
In World War I, the Ottoman Empire joined forces with the Germans and Austro-Hungarians. Some Arab states joined the British under the leadership of the Sharif of Mecca. In return, the British promised them independence after the war. But, the British and French had already made a secret deal (the Sykes-Picot Agreement), carving up the Middle East between themselves into areas of direct or indirect control.
A final complication in the Middle East was the Balfour Declaration made by the British in 1917, promising "the establishment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish people." This agreement conflicted with the promise of Arab independence and set the stage for much further conflict. The Balfour Declaration and the Sykes-Picot Agreement helped create a legacy of resentment toward colonial rule and distrust of Western motives that persists for many in the Middle East even today.

The Cold War Era
The Cold War began after World War Two between United States and the Soviet Union. They fought indirectly, supporting conflicts in different parts of the world through taking sides. Over the years, leaders changed while the Cold War continued for the second half of twentieth century. The United States led the West while the Soviet Union led Eastern Europe. The non-aligned countries did not take any side. Soviet Union had been invaded via Eastern Europe in both World Wars with some Eastern European states joining the invasions. So, Soviet Union wanted "friendly" (Communist or Leftist) regimes throughout Eastern Europe to protect its European borders from further invasions. In 1945 Joseph Stalin opposed any freely elected governments in Poland, Czechoslovakia and other Eastern European states. In March 1946, Winston Churchill referred to an ‘iron curtain’ descending across the continent. By 1948, pro-Soviet regimes were in power in Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. Failing to stop the Soviets in Eastern Europe, the U.S. and Britain were determined to prevent possible communist regimes in Western Europe. There was a real possibility the communist parties would be elected in France and Italy.
In March 1947, President Truman declared the Truman Doctrine, a plan to give money and military aid to countries threatened by communism. The Truman Doctrine effectively stopped communists from taking control of Greece and Turkey. The US also used the excuse of communism in all foreign interventions as it uses ‘War on Terror’ excuse today to invade any corner of the globe, ignoring the UN.
The United States led the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949 to defend against Soviet forces in Europe. The Soviet Union and its east European allies formed joint military group - the Warsaw Pact - six years later. Today, NATO remains a bone of contention between the US and Russia as former Soviet states are joining NATO to set up nuclear deterrents.

Impact of Cold War in the Middle East
The Cold War also affected the Middle East. In the 1950s, both east and west offered aid to Egypt to build the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River. The west canceled its offer because Egypt bought weapons from communist Czechoslovakia. Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser then seized control of the French company that operated the Suez Canal. A few months later, Israel invaded Egypt. France and Britain joined the invasion. For once, the US and the Soviets agreed and both supported a UN resolution demanding immediate ceasefire. During the Suez Crisis the Soviet Union supported Egypt and gained new friends in the Arab world.
Many in the Middle East see the oppression from their own leaders supported by the West, America in particular. In some US backed regime, the worst human rights abuses are described. Only when they have gone too far, they are demonized or regarded as hostile. Iraq and Saddam episode is the burning example of this contradictory policy.

Israel and Palestine
World War II weakened colonial Europe and the colonized world started to break free. Some of the western-installed puppets became increasingly independent and others were overthrown. Soviet Union had a long border with the Middle East. The West was desperate to prevent those two regions to join. Hence the West's large military expenditures to maintain control in that volatile region.
Israel has always been a sensitive issue. Even Albert Einstein said about Israel state: "My awareness of the essential nature of Judaism resists the idea of a Jewish state with borders, an army, and a measure of temporal power, no matter how modest. I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain -- especially from the development of a narrow nationalism within our own ranks, against which we have already had to fight strongly, even without a Jewish state."
Whereas, Israel has received enormous amounts of military aid. The Palestine-Israel peace process has been grossly one sided, with the U.S. constantly backing Israel. Ordinary Arab citizens are also extremely frustrated at their own leaders for not helping Palestinians. Those states or organizations that have provided support, including, Lebanon, the Hezbollah, Syria, etc. have been branded as terrorist groups or “rogue” states.
International isolation of the United States and Israel increased in the mid-1970s, when virtually the entire world endorsed a modification of UN 242 to include a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Washington was compelled to veto a Security Council resolution to this effect in January 1976 and kept voting against subsequent UN resolutions, and blocked other diplomatic initiatives from Europe, the Arab states, the PLO, and others.
To look back at recent US meddling on the Israel issue, here is the chronology. 1983: US troops in Lebanon as part of multinational peacekeeping force intervened on one side of the civil war and then withdrew after the the bombing of marine barracks. 1987-92: U.S. arms used by Israel to repress first Palestinian Intifada. U.S. vetoes five Security Council resolutions condemning Israeli repression. 1988: U.S. vetoes 3 Security Council resolutions condemning continuing Israeli occupation and repression in Lebanon.
Such factors in the Middle East and political oppression through puppet regimes, have also contributed to extremism. The more the U.S. militarizes the Middle East, the less secure it becomes. President George W. Bush is wrong when he claims America is targeted because it is a “beacon for freedom.” It is targeted because freedom is not part of US policy in the Middle East. The US would be much safer if it supported a policy based on human rights and international law rather than arms supplies, air strikes, and punitive sanctions.
Israel happens to be the only Nuke in the Middle East and paradoxically enough the US smells nuclear capabilities in other countries of the region and would go any length to stop it. The US backed nuclear arsenal of Israel reportedly consists of 250 warheads, several thousand nuclear rockets and dozens of nuclear submarines and mini-nuclear weapons. Besides, their regular incursions inside the Palestinian territory, specially in the Gaza strip today, represents the real “weapon of mass destruction” on an accumulative term. But, invasion and occupation in Iraq and its vast oil resources made Israel more sacrosanct to the US and the west as a whole.
Israel has ignored all UN resolutions condemning atrocities against the Arab. Yet none in the so-called International community has any prowess to raise a finger against Israel. If history plays the straight game, the day is not far away when the Frankenstein created by the superpowers would devour its mighty backers.

The U.S. and Israel -- and the Palestinians
Israel was intended to be a national home for Jews and a place for them to return to their roots, both spiritually and physically. Many, including nearly 75,000 European Jews escaping persecution from Nazi Germany, found refuge there. But its creation came at a price. Hundreds of thousands of Arabs were either displaced by Jewish settlers or became unwilling citizens of Israel.
US President Harry Truman recognized the Jewish state immediately after its 1948 declaration of independence. Continued U.S. support for Israel has remained a pillar of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East because of several factors: a need for stable allies, a sense of a shared Judeo-Christian religious tradition and as a market for US weapons. Israel was the basic bastion of US domination in the geopolitically critical mid-east region.
U.S.-made aircraft were critical to the Israeli victory in the 1967 Six-Day War that pitted Israel against an alliance of Arab powers. And when the Yom Kippur War of 1973 again threatened the Jewish state, a massive U.S. airlift of war material was crucial to Israel's survival. Unconditional U.S. support for the Jewish state has challenged American relationships with nations long considered allies, like Egypt and Saudi Arabia. These Arab allies argue that American principles like human rights and freedom of the press are not promoted in Israel in the same way that Americans push for reform elsewhere.
For many decades, the U.S. has been active in its attempts to broker peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors, excluding or resisting peace initiative by any other country or agency. Notable achievements include the 1978 Camp David meeting that negotiated peace between Egypt and Israel and the 1993 Oslo interim peace agreement that established a framework for negotiating peace between the Israelis and Palestinians and set in motion the process for achieving a Palestinian state. Current ‘Road Map’ with Fattah recognizing Israel’s right is nothing more than a superficial attempt that always grants immunity to Israel for killing civilians in West Bank and Gaza. Another Hippocratic disaster came when US permitted general election in Palestine to “promote democracy’ and the people of Palestine voted sweepingly for Hamas that do not recognize Israel. Subsequently, Hamas was isolated by Fattah and Gaza is under siege by the Zionist Israel even today (June 18, 2008) causing immeasurable human plight.
Supporters of the Palestinians, however, believe that the U.S. has not done all it could to bring Arab-Israel peace. All-out US support to Israel in the form of military equipment, affected American economy and American jobs negatively for continually upgrading Israeli army.

Promoting Stability and Democracy!!
Despite U.S. State Department proclamations that American interests lie in promoting the creation of democratic governments around the world, U.S. power has at times supported oppressive regimes in the Middle East. During the Cold War with the Soviet Union, many key policymakers in US saw a stable ally, dictatorial or not, as far preferable to an unstable regime that might side with the Soviets. Even after Soviet collapse, U.S. dollars and military assistance continue to flow to Arab regimes cited by human rights monitors for violations of human rights or lack of democracy, including Saudi Arabia (where a Wahhabi regime limits women's rights), Turkey (which has suppressed the movement for Kurdish autonomy), Israel (which doesn't enforce equal rights for its Arab citizens), and the Egyptian government of Hosni Mubarak (where an Egyptian American was jailed for encouraging voter participation). The U.S. also supported the military coups in Tunisia (to depose President Bourguiba) and in Algeria, when the Islamists appeared close to winning a national election and won fairly. Recently, the U.S. supported transfer of power in Syria from the late Hafez al-Asad to his son despite Syria's supposedly republican form of government.
US also supported Saddam against Iran for the brutal 8-year war and incited rebellion among the Kurds and Shies, then turned a blind eye when Saddam used chemical weapon in Halabza. Ironically, in later days, the US established ‘no fly zone’ in Kurdish north-Iraq, attacked Saddam because he occupied Kuwait and then invaded Iraq in 2003 and hanged Saddam for using chemical weapon on the Kurds.

U.S. Military Action in Middle East
U.S. troops have seen limited action in the Middle East before Iraq invasion. As peacekeepers in Lebanon after Israel's 1982 invasion, U.S. forces fared poorly. Two hundred forty-one Marines were killed when their barracks was hit by a suicide truck-bomb in October 1983, prompting a U.S. withdrawal from Beirut to offshore warships.
The most significant direct U.S. military intervention came in response to the Iraqi invasion of oil-rich Kuwait in August of 1990, which led to the First Gulf War. The First Gulf War and subsequent Iraq occupation won the U.S. the gratitude of the oil-rich states of the Persian Gulf for eliminating the Iraqi military threat, but these regimes have had to deal with increased internal criticism for allowing U.S. troops to remain in on their soil. Thus Osama Bin Laden left the Saudi royalties to form Al Qaeda. 

The U.S. and Oil
While American interest in the region isn't motivated by the pursuit of fossil fuels alone, the historically complicated U.S. relationships with Iran, Iraq, and the Gulf states have often revolved around oil, specifically, ensuring an adequate supply at a reasonable cost.
Since Standard Oil's 1936 discovery of massive oil deposits in Saudi Arabia, ensuring access to the region's fossil fuels has been paramount on America's foreign policy agenda. The 1973-1974 OPEC Oil Boycott and the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 are both dramatic examples of how regional forces have challenged U.S. access to fuel. The 1973 boycott was particularly powerful; at the time, Arab nations supplied 37 percent of the oil consumed by the noncommunist world. To this day, ensuring the supply of oil from the region weighs heavily on the development of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. After recent skyrocketing oil prices America compelled Saudi Arabia to announce an increase in oil production and it has complete sway over Iraqi oil to force the present Iraq’s puppet regime to close deals with western oil companies.

50 years of US policy in the Middle East
1947-48 UN votes to partition Palestine into two states - one for Jews, one for Palestinian Arabs. 300,000 Palestinians were forced to flee Jewish-controlled areas. Jewish forces prevail, declaring Israeli independence. The US recognizes Israel. 1953 CIA helps Iran's military coup, deposing elected PM Mohammad Mossadeq, whom US sees as communist threat. The US installs Shah Mohammad Reza Pavlavi as ruler of Iran. 1956 Israel attacks Egypt for control of Suez Canal. Britain and France veto US-sponsored UN resolution calling for halt to military action. British forces attack Egypt. 1966 US sells its first jet bombers to Israel, breaking with a 1956 decision not to sell arms to the Jewish state. 1967 Six-Day War. Israel launches preemptive strike against Arab neighbors, capturing Jerusalem, the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights. Kuwait and Iraq cut oil supplies to US. UN adopts Resolution 242, calling on Israel to withdraw from captured territory. Israel refuses. 1968 First major hijacking by Arab militants occurs on El Al flight from Rome to Tel Aviv, marking decades of hostage-takings, hijackings, and assassinations as a strategy by Arab militant groups. 1969 Muammar Qaddafi comes to power in Libyan and orders US Air Force to evacuate Tripoli. 1972 Eight Palestinian commandos of Black September kill 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games. 1973 Egypt and Syria attack Israel to free Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula. The US gives $2.2 billion in emergency aid to Israel, turning tide of battle to Israel's favor. Arab states cut US oil shipments. 1974 UN General Assembly recognizes right of Palestinians to independence with American support. 1976 The UN votes on a resolution accusing Israel of war crimes in occupied territories. US casts lone "no" vote. US Ambassador to Lebanon Francis Meloy and an adviser are shot to death in Beirut. The US closes Embassy there. 1978 Egypt and Israel sign US-brokered Camp David peace treaty. Eighteen Arab countries impose an economic boycott on Egypt. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin receive Nobel Peace Prize. 1979 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini leads grass-roots Islamic revolution in Iran, deriding the US as "the great Satan." Iranian students storm US Embassy in Tehran, taking 66 Americans hostage for next 15 months. The US imposes sanctions. Protesters attack US Embassies in Libya and Pakistan. 1981 Israel bombs Iraqi nuclear reactor. Muslim militants opposed to Egypt's peace treaty with Israel assassinate Egyptian President Sadat. 1982 Israel invades Lebanon to expel the Palestine Liberation Organization, facilitate election of friendly government, and form 25-mile security zone along Israel's border. Defense Minister Ariel Sharon permits Lebanese Christian militia to enter the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps outside Beirut. The ensuing three-day massacre kills 600 or more civilian refugees. The US and other nations deploy peacekeeping troops in Lebanon. 1983 A truck bomb explodes in US Marines' barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 soldiers and causing withdrawal of US forces. 1986 US bombs Libya in retaliation for the bombing of a Berlin nightclub frequented by US servicemen. The air strike kills 15 people, including the infant daughter of leader Muammar Qaddafi. All Arab nations condemn the attack. 1987 Start of the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. 1990 Iraq invades Kuwait. Saddam Hussein links pullout to Israel's withdrawal from occupied territories. UN imposes sanctions that continue to hobble Iraq's economy in effort to force Iraqi compliance with weapons resolutions. 1991 US coalition launches attacks against Iraq from Saudi Arabia. Gulf War ends after some three months, but US deployment continues, with 17,000 to 24,000 US troops in region. 1993 World Trade Center in New York is bombed, killing six. US Special Forces, deployed as peacekeepers in Somalia, attempt to capture warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid. Eighteen US servicemen are killed. Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat sign historic peace declaration in White House ceremony with President Clinton. 1994 Jordan and Israel sign peace treaty. Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin, and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres receive Nobel Peace Prize for 1993 agreement. 1995 US announces trade ban against Iran, reinforcing sanctions in effect since 1979. Rabin is assassinated, two years after peace deal with Palestinians. In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a car bomb explodes outside an office housing US military personnel. Seven are killed, including five Americans. Three Islamist groups claim responsibility. 1996 A truck bomb explodes outside a US military barracks in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, killing 19 US airmen. UN reports that sanctions cause 4,500 Iraqi children under 5 to die each month. 1997 Egyptian Islamic Group massacres 62 people, mostly foreign tourists, in Luxor, Egypt. The group claims it is retaliation for US imprisonment of Sheikh Omar Abdel al-Rahman, who is later convicted in 1993 World Trade Center bombing. 1998 Bombs explode outside US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people. US launches cruise-missile attacks on sites in Sudan and Afghanistan allegedly linked to Osama bin Laden. US indicts bin Laden for committing acts of terrorism against Americans abroad. 1999 Islamic militants, traced to bin Laden, are arrested for plot to bomb tourist sites during millennium celebrations. 2000 Camp David negotiations fail. Sharon visits Temple Mount in Jerusalem, sparking current Palestinian uprising (Intifadah). USS Cole bombing in Yemen's Aden harbor kills 17 American sailors. Bin Laden denies responsibility, but applauds the act. 2001 Hijackers crash two planes into World Trade Center in New York, one into Pentagon, and one in Pennsylvania. More than 7,000 people are dead or missing. The US blames Al Qaeda and invades Afghanistan. 2003 The US invades Iraq on the false pretext of WMD and fails to prove it after occupying the country. Yet, Saddam is hanged for Halabza massacre along with others.
As on today, 18 June 2008, America keeps ignoring Israel’s unjust atrocities on the Palestinians like persistent bombing, killing of civilians and children protestors. This year, Israel laid siege on the Hamas led Gaza Strip. On 17th June Egypt brokers a 6-month truce between Hamas and Israel. As proved retrospectively, this truce is a fragile one like similar treaties in the past and while Hamas declares the Truce Agreement on 17th, Israel says that they have not agreed yet and has to check the details as an Israeli envoy leaves for Cairo. Today, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announces acceptance of the Truce that is to be in force from 19th June. But, Israel carries out air-strike in Gaza on the 17th, killing 5 Palestinians (Aljazeera news).
Ironically enough, Israel has never officially admitted being a Nuke state although evidence and expert reports proved otherwise. International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed El Baradei regards Israel as a state possessing nuclear weapons. Yet this only Nuke in the Middle East maintains a policy of "nuclear ambiguity" or "nuclear opacity". Just one year after 1948, Israel secretly began building a nuclear reactor with French support and a reprocessing plant in the late 1950s. Although Israel first built a nuclear weapon in 1967-68, it was not publicly confirmed from the inside until a former Israeli nuclear technician revealed details of the program to the British press in 1986. Israel is currently believed to possess between 75 to 200 nuclear warheads with the ability to deliver them by ground, aircraft, and submarine.
However, back in 1960, the Israeli nuclear program was first revealed publicly on 13 December in a small Time article, which said that a non-Communist non-NATO country had made an "atomic development." On December 16, the Daily Express revealed this country to be Israel, and on December 18, US Atomic Energy Commission Chairman John McCone appeared on Meet the Press to officially confirm the Israeli construction of a nuclear reactor and announced his resignation. The following day The New York Times, with the help of McCone, revealed that France was assisting Israel.
The first public revelation of Israel's nuclear capability (as opposed to development program) came from NBC News, which reported in January 1969 that Israel decided "to embark on a crash course program to produce a nuclear weapon" two years previously, and that they possessed or would soon be in possession of such a device. This was initially dismissed by Israeli and US officials, as well as in an article in The New York Times. In 1970 on July 18, The New York Times made public for the first time that the US government believed Israel to possess nuclear weapons or to have the "capacity to assemble atomic bombs on short notice."
The first extensive details of the weapons program came in the London based Sunday Times on 5 October 1986, which printed information provided by Mordechai Vanunu, a technician formerly employed at the Negev Nuclear Research Center near Dimona. For publication of state secrets Vanunu was kidnapped by the Mossad in Rome, brought back to Israel, and sentenced to 18 years in prison for treason and espionage. Although there had been much speculation prior to Vanunu's revelations that the Dimona site was creating nuclear weapons, Vanunu's information indicated that Israel had also built thermonuclear weapons.
Israeli military forces possess land, air, and sea based methods for deploying their nuclear weapons, thus forming a rudimentary nuclear triad. It consists of short to medium ranged, submarine launched cruise missiles and medium ranged ballistic missiles. Israeli Air Force has Lockheed Martin F-16I Sufa ("Storm") and McDonnell Douglas/Boeing F-15 Eagle Baz 2000 aircrafts (supplied by US) as strategic bombers. It also has Dolphin class submarines armed with US Harpoon missiles and tipped with nuclear warheads. The first missiles were the Jericho I system, first operational in 1971. They were updated to Jericho II in the mid 1980s and Jericho III in the mid 2000s.
The creation of Israel through League of Nations was plotted by the British and later taken over by the US. Since the establishment of Israel by the UN in 1948, the very idea of using the Holocust as an excuse of creating a multi-ethnic Zionist state on Palestinian soil, has been considered by the world conscience as the most brutal and unjustifiable act in human history. But the US stood squarely behind Israel and compelled most of the Arab states and even Yaser Arafat and his Fattah successor Abu Mazen to recognize Israel’s right of existence. US backed atrocities of Israel against the Arab and their indiscriminate killing of Palestinians, building of ever new settlements on occupied Palestinian territories is going on unabated. Being the only nuclear power, even according to American Intelligence Report, gives Israel an uncontestable position to act as US bastion of power in the region. America continues to support Israel unconditionally and the Democratic Presidential Nominee for October 2008, Barak Obama, a black American, who incited hope for change in US Middle East policy, declares before the powerful Jewish lobby AIPAC this month (America Israel Public Affairs Committee) that ‘Israel’s interest is sacrosanct for America and adds further that Jerusalem should remain an undivided city as the capital of Israel. Considering the present world-order, there seem to be no end to this inhuman and ugly occupation and atrocities as the US is the power behind that conducts similar plunder around the world without any respect to Humanity.

Middle East Armament
Aircrafts
Egypt                            1,230
Israel                                        1,230
Libya                            1,089
Syria                             1,070
Iran                              954
Saudi Arabia                 725
Iraq                              651
Lebanon                       68

Armored Vehicles (Includes Tracked & Wheeled MBT and APC Units)
Egypt                            9,357
Israel                                        14,200
Libya                            3,340
Syria                             9,650
Iran                              2,380
Saudi Arabia                 5,325
Iraq                              7,430

Artillery (Includes Tracked, Wheeled and Towed Systems)
Egypt                            2,393
Israel                                        2,783 
Libya                            3,842 
Syria                             4,745
Iran                              4,594
Saudi Arabia                 508
Iraq                              3,050 
Lebanon                       0

Defensive Missile Systems (Heavy Anti-Tank and SAM Systems)
Egypt                            3,334 
Israel                                        3,153 
Libya                            725
Syria                             11,233 
Iran                              1,760 
Saudi Arabia                 3,050 
Iraq                              5,210 
Lebanon                       0

Infantry Support Weapons (Mortar and Anti-Tank Missile Systems)
Egypt                            8,650
Israel                                        7,520
Libya                            3,500
Syria                             4,900
Iran                              12,500 
Saudi Arabia                 3,050
Iraq                              4,000
Lebanon                       0

Navy Ships (2005)
Egypt                            102
Israel                                        18
Libya                            32
Syria                             16
Iran                              65
Saudi Arabia                 29
Iraq                              9
Lebanon                       20
** Official sources for this information include US Department of Defense public domain records, the CIA World Factbook and other military publications and statistical surveys
19 September 2008