Israel Matzav

The Sunni bomb?

Fresh from a trip to the Persian Gulf, Max Boot reports that the countries who are closest to Iran have no confidence in American assurances of a 'nuclear umbrella' to contain a nuclear Iran, and are demanding a Sunni bomb to offset the Shiite bomb being developed by Iran.

There is a lot of support, albeit beneath the surface, for American military action against Iran, which, in the Gulfies’ view, could deal a decisive setback to the “Persians.” An Israeli strike, on the other hand, they fear, would not inflict much damage and would only allow the mullahs to rally the Arab street behind them. They are also “deathly afraid” (in the words of one American ambassador) that the U.S. will sell them out by reaching a deal with Iran.

With the growing likelihood of a nuclear Iran, talk has turned to containment, with Gulf states demanding more sophisticated air defenses from the U.S. and even talking about somehow turning the Gulf Cooperation Council into a NATO-like alliance to contain Iran. The Obama administration is clearly planning for a nuclear Iran by preparing to extend the American nuclear umbrella to regional allies. But the local leaders that we talked to (I traveled with a delegation from the Council on Foreign Relations.) made clear that they would place little faith in an American guarantee. They want a Sunni bomb to offset the Shiite bomb, which means that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, or Turkey would be likely to build their own nuke to counter Iran’s. Thus, at a minimum, the Iranian nuclear program could set off a serious proliferation problem — and that’s without considering the possibility that Iran will share its technology with Syria and other allies.

Read it all. The more Obama tries to bring about nuclear disarmament, the more nuclear proliferation he causes. Maybe he ought to try Too bad he's not capable of trying a different approach.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:55 AM