Samson Exposed

Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister of Israel, admitted in a slip of the tongue what we already know: that Israeli has nuclear weapons. Some people believe that Israel could have the sixth largest nuclear arsenal and probably the most sophisticated delivery system. But Olmert’s mistake came in admitting it at all. Israel has long clung to a policy of ambiguity: don’t admit, don’t deny. Better to keep the Arabs guessing and never have proof. Now, the Arabs have their proof.

Some might not see this as a big deal, but it actually is. Now that the cat is officially out of the bag, Iran is going to thumb its nose at everyone and say that they need nuclear weapons to counter the threat from Israel. Not that the world community was going to stop Iran, but this eliminates any possibility of anyone outside of the US and maybe Britain of applying sanctions to Iran and we already have them in place.

Secondly, Israel can no longer hope for the US backing if they chose to bomb the Iranian sites. Israel was always going to be vilified for a preemptive strike on Iran, but they could have probably counted on the US support and the rest of the world talking out of both sides of their mouth about how it was a terrible thing Israel did, but its also nice to not have a nuclear Iran. Now the world will universally condemn Israel for being a have and imposing its will on its neighbors. The world will try to apply great pressure to Israel and the US will probably not even try to stop it, finding no real hole in the world's argument.

The third consequence is that after some sort of hostilities erupt next year, the UN will come down and demand that the Middle East be declared a nuclear free zone. They might actually enforce it in Iran and other countries, but the focus of their wrath will be on Israel. Israel, to maintain any standing in the world community will be forced to give up their nuclear weapons and subject themselves to UN inspection tours. Without the threat of nuclear reprisals, the enemies of Israel will gather their forces for a large-scale invasion. Losses will be heavy, but if they act quickly, they should overwhelm the unprepared Israelis. At least, that’s what they think.

Midnight is approaching and Olmert is pushing the minute hand only that much faster.