United Nations & The Middle East.
It is interesting that Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, on his Middle-East Tour is not only visiting Lebanon and Israel but also Iran and Syria.
Could it be that he read my earlier blog of 6th August 2006, published incidently as a Letter to the Editor of The Times.
Perhaps not!
Great pity though that Mr Blair and Dr Rice have not taken the advice although whether either of them would be welcome in any part of the Middle East is debateable.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Monday, August 28, 2006
Nuclear Weapons in the Middle East.
If we are concerned, as we should be, about a nuclear holocaust in the Middle East we should be concerned that at the moment the only nuclear power in the region is Israel. The probability that Iran will develop a nuclear arsenal should be of less concern.
In the decades following World War II the doctrine of mutual destruction of each other by the main nuclear powers ensured that such weapons were not used. In deed the only time they have been used is when the United States was the only nation who possessed them.
If there is any logic in that history the development of a nuclear weapon by Iran is likely to ensure that they are not used rather than present an additional threat to peace in the area.
The alternative is to persuade Israel to give up her nuclear weapons. It is only those who believe in Father Christmas who would argue that they are not possessed by Israel.
If we are concerned, as we should be, about a nuclear holocaust in the Middle East we should be concerned that at the moment the only nuclear power in the region is Israel. The probability that Iran will develop a nuclear arsenal should be of less concern.
In the decades following World War II the doctrine of mutual destruction of each other by the main nuclear powers ensured that such weapons were not used. In deed the only time they have been used is when the United States was the only nation who possessed them.
If there is any logic in that history the development of a nuclear weapon by Iran is likely to ensure that they are not used rather than present an additional threat to peace in the area.
The alternative is to persuade Israel to give up her nuclear weapons. It is only those who believe in Father Christmas who would argue that they are not possessed by Israel.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
The Middle East Chaos.
There is a lot of activity at the moment at the United Nations to get agreement on a form of words that is supposedly the first step to stopping the chaos. The agreement between the United States and France may be forthcoming and other nations may row in behind this agreement. We will then end up with a piece of paper to odd to the pile of many other resolutions ignored by every side going back over fifty years.
The major player in the Middle East is Iran and how we can expect to arrive at some sort of peace without involving it and, to a lesser extent, Syria beggars belief. The tragedy will continue until we stop this simplistic talk of an 'axis of evil', imposing democracy whether people want it or not and engage realistically with those who are the major players. When we see Mr Blair and Dr Rice jetting off to Tehran and Damascus we can then realistically hope that a solution might, just might, be possible.
There is a lot of activity at the moment at the United Nations to get agreement on a form of words that is supposedly the first step to stopping the chaos. The agreement between the United States and France may be forthcoming and other nations may row in behind this agreement. We will then end up with a piece of paper to odd to the pile of many other resolutions ignored by every side going back over fifty years.
The major player in the Middle East is Iran and how we can expect to arrive at some sort of peace without involving it and, to a lesser extent, Syria beggars belief. The tragedy will continue until we stop this simplistic talk of an 'axis of evil', imposing democracy whether people want it or not and engage realistically with those who are the major players. When we see Mr Blair and Dr Rice jetting off to Tehran and Damascus we can then realistically hope that a solution might, just might, be possible.
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