The information about an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador in Washington is abundant and reliable, and the Obama administration would not have made it public had it not been certain of it. It remains for us to know whether the plot was the work of a small extremist faction, or was planned at the highest levels in the Islamic Republic. In the meantime, I categorically reject what some Arabs maintain, that Iran is a more dangerous enemy of the Arabs, or of this or that country, than Israel. For one thing, the source of the Iranian threat is the extremist regime, while Israel is an enemy of all Arabs and Muslims per se. Some Arabs remained silent for a long time in what concerns Israel's nuclear arsenal, and then reacted excessively when it was revealed that Iran had a nuclear program, even when it definitely did not yet reach the stage of producing nuclear bombs. I wish that both Egypt and Saudi Arabia had begun nuclear programs years ago, and that Kuwait and the UAE were pioneers in the nuclear field, the first so as to avert a new occupation by any other party, and the second so as to be ready to face Iran, which occupies its three islands. I have always called on those countries to go nuclear for two reasons: First, to respond to Israel's arsenal in kind, and second, because I realize that a nuclear arms race in the Middle East would force the United States and both the West and the East to initiate a campaign to strip Israel of its nuclear weapons. If any of the readers know another way to strip Israel of its nuclear weapons, let them come and enlighten us. Until then, I insist that a nuclear arms race is the only way to initiate a campaign to render the Middle East a WMD-free zone. If such a campaign fails, then the Arab countries would have acquired nuclear weapons to counter those of Israel and Iran in the future. Do the stars of the Arab media, who now consider Iran a bigger enemy than Israel, want to hear something else from me that they won't like? Since the Khobar bombing in 1996, which Saudi investigators established was the work of the Saudi/Iranian Hezbollah, Saudi soil has not seen any terror attacks ordered by Iran, and the Saudi government did not blame any terrorist attack since then on Iran or its agents. I am stating facts, not opinions. The Saudis did not 'give up' Iran to the Americans after the bombing that killed 19 U.S. soldiers, and the Iranians responded by steering clear from orchestrating any terror attacks targeting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. However, the plot that was uncovered by the American authorities put an end to the status quo between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and created a new situation, or at least, took the situation back to the days of the Iranian terror plots. I venture to say that the Obama administration has told the truth. There is a suspect who has confessed to his role in the plot, and verified wire transfers. There is an informer in the Mexican drug gangs who works for the American authorities, and there are audio recordings of the plot's culprits. The Obama administration leaks new information every day, because the idea of the plot is almost unbelievable, and some of the most prominent commentators in the Western press have voiced their skepticism over it. I hope that Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries have learned the lesson from the plot to murder the Saudi ambassador in Washington D.C. This is because denunciation, condemnation and threats mean nothing. Instead, it is imperative for the Arab countries to be strong themselves, and not to blame Iran or others for their own weakness. More importantly, the Arab countries must not seek protection from the United States, because it was never an ally. Rather, the U.S. implements a foreign policy drafted in Israel. So I say to the advocates of American intervention to defend this or that revolution, that the United States, since the end of the Second World War, attacked or waged wars against China, Korea, Indonesia, Cuba, Peru, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Granada and Libya (1986), and Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yugoslavia. Yet not one democratic regime emerged in any country that was attacked, invaded or occupied by the United States. [email protected]
