Finland is supposed to host a conference on Weapons of Mass Destruction, with 189 countries taking part, later this year. However, the chances for holding such an event have dipped after the preparatory meeting in Vienna last week. Arab states say Israel is the biggest threat to peace in the Middle East, while the United States defends Israel and asks that the focus be on Iran. I am aware that there is much stupidity in our countries, and I have a share of it. Since I am in the end of and from these countries, and a mix of rationality and stupidity, I sometimes must repeat information that I see as taken for granted, and does not require mentioning in the first place, not to speak of repeating it, were it not for the ignorance that is spreading. Therefore, I will say that Israel certainly has a nuclear arsenal, and has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which the Arab countries have been gallant enough to sign; Iran does not possess nuclear weapons, and cannot today, or tomorrow, even if it tried, because its nuclear program is unable to enrich uranium to 20 percent, while nuclear weapons require an average enrichment level of 90 to 90 percent. At the Vienna conference, Egypt spoke on behalf of non-aligned countries and clearly criticized Israel's position. Its delegate said that Arab countries might re-think their stance on WMD (nuclear, chemical and biological weapons) if Israel retains its position. The American delegate to the conference in Vienna was also acting as Israel's delegate. He asked Muslim countries to stop pressuring at the meeting, which should prepare for a general conference in 2015. Then, he expressed his profound worry that Iran is not implementing its commitment on preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. Thus, the American-Israeli delegate, Mr. Thomas Countryman, wants a conference that denies what exists, and condemn what does not. The office of Israeli Prime Minister and war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement as vulgar as the fascist Israeli government. He said the decision taken in Vienna was unbalanced and focused on Israel being "the Middle East's only democracy, and the only country threatened with annihilation," while "the terrorist regime in Iran (…) is racing to develop nuclear weapons." Israel is no democracy; it is a neo-Nazi state, a state of terror institutions, and all of the terror in the Middle East is a response to Israeli terror. I hold the country responsible for it, including that of al-Qaida; this is the other face of Israeli terror, and they are allied against Arabs and Muslims. For years in my columns I have asked Arab states to begin military nuclear programs. I do not want to see the spread of WMDs, but this is the only way for western countries, led by the United States, to move toward making our region a region free of these weapons. The US will not do so as long as Israel is the only country with a nuclear bomb; it will defend Israel in every international forum, as we saw in Vienna a few days ago. The stance by non-aligned countries in Vienna, as expressed by Egypt, is new, and good, although I am aware that some states continue to shelter America from Israel – they are one and the same, standing against all Arab and Muslim interests. The government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is Persian, wearing religious garb, but the Iranian people are Muslim neighbors, and cannot be considered an enemy, like Israel. I will add that I have received letters from readers who consider Iran the enemy, before Israel, and I have read comments in this same spirit. I accuse every Arab or Muslim who takes this stance of treason, twice-over. Once, against his religion, and second, against his country, although I know that they are not traitors – it is just ignorance, as I explained at the beginning. Iran does not scare me. It is a country under a blockade, and its people suffer from a lack of basic goods, including fuel, in an oil-rich country, and foodstuffs are very expensive. What frightens me is ignorance, about the reasons for our strength, and the weak points of the Iranian regime. It is ignorance combined with fear, which leads to wrong decisions, and unjustified positions. [email protected]
