Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Israel to U.S. : Now Deal with Syria and Iran -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve kammerer who wrote (3348)	10/29/2003 3:11:36 PM
From: Scoobah	Respond to of 22250

Saudi-Pakistan smoke or fire By Ze'ev Schiff On October 8 this year, Asharq Al Awsat, the Saudi-owned London-based newspaper, carried an article headlined "Yes, we are afraid of Iranian uranium." The article included a number of interesting statements. "It would be a mistake to defend our neighbor Iran because of ignorance and because of the excuse that its actions are meant to deter Israel. The Iranian nuclear danger threatens us more than the Israelis and Americans - our duty is to seek the dismantling of Israel's nuclear weapons but we cannot deceive ourselves that Iran is arming itself with nuclear weapons as a response to Israel. We used conventional weapons against each other more than against Israel and that situation won't change if we add a nuclear bomb to our arsenal." The Saudi concern appears sincere and is evidence of understanding that Iran's nuclearization will create a chain reaction in the Middle East, putting the entire region at risk. However, the editor ignored the stubborn reports about Saudi efforts to reach nuclear cooperation with Pakistan, which, by the way, helped Iran get centrifuges for enriching uranium. The denials of recent reports about a nuclear agreement between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, in which Saudi Arabia wants to buy nuclear technology from Pakistan, cannot remove some previous question marks. For example, it is clear that Saudi officials were invited to visit the Pakistani nuclear facilities in 1999; at the same time that Pakistani troops were stationed in Saudi Arabia to protect the regime there, Riyadh provided significant financial support for the Pakistani nuclear development program; Pakistan mediated between Saudi Arabia and China on a deal involving the first Saudi acquisition of long-range missiles (CCS-2). What does a country need such a long range and expensive missile for if all it wants to do is attach a conventional warhead to it? These missiles are out of date and now Saudi Arabia wants to upgrade them or acquire new missiles in their place. The Americans have demanded that China not get involved in that deal. Various reports, including Pakistani newspaper reports, say the worried Saudis are seeking a "nuclear umbrella" from an ally. There are signs that the Saudis no longer rely on the Americans as they did in the past and therefore are turning to their Pakistani friends. Pakistan's ruler Pervez Musharraf is not linked to the past deals with Saudi Arabia but it is known that he counted on relations with Saudi Arabia when he organized the coup in his country. It is difficult to believe that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will sign a nuclear agreement (even for maintaining Pakistani nuclear weapons in Saudi Arabia) when it is clear to both that it is a clear-cut formula for confrontation with the United States. It is more reasonable that the noise Saudi Arabia made about the nuclear issue, noise that it was able to make because of its ties to Pakistan, was meant to pressure the U.S. and the international community to push for a regional Middle East agreement, including Israel, which will turn it into a zone free of weapons of mass destruction. It must be made clear to the Saudis that such an agreement is only possible after a comprehensive peace exists in the Middle East. No matter what the results of the move, meanwhile an important conclusion can be drawn from it: Pakistan, an American friend in the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, is "disseminating nuclear technology." While Iran is basing itself on obvious lies when it comes to its nuclear development program and North Korea is provoking its neighbors and the U.S. with its development of nuclear arms - and both belong to the "axis of evil" - then Pakistan is "a nuclear weapons dealer." In the past, North Korea did that (and has since become a dealer of long range missiles). Afterward, it helped Iran acquire centrifuges. It's all being done for money. Now there are reports about possible nuclear connections between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. It is possible that is is a lot of smoke, but it should be examined to make sure there aren't any coals glimmering behind that curtain of smoke. Top Articles Income abroad to be taxed semiannually The Income Tax Commissioner said yesterday that Israelis with passive income abroad will pay 15 percent tax. By Ben Zion Citrin Real estate's gray areas The management of Bank Leumi probably breathed a sigh of relief when the ILA council finally approved the 1996 deal between then-ILA director general Avi Wechsler and the Dankner family's Israel Salt Industries. By Zvi Maor

To: steve kammerer who wrote (3348)	10/29/2003 3:19:37 PM
From: Scoobah	Respond to of 22250

SYRIA CONTINUES TO SEND FIGHTERS TO IRAQ October 29, 2003 The Middle East Newsline reports: "Al Qaida has recruited fighters from Syria for suicide and other attacks against the U.S. military presence in Iraq. U.S. officials said they have found evidence that hundreds of Syrian and other Arab nationals have entered Iraq from Syria over the past few weeks and joined new Al Qaida-related units for attacks against U.S. and Western targets in Iraq. They said the Islamic mercenaries were believed to have been involved in the wave of suicide bombings in Baghdad on Monday, the start of the Islamic fast month of Ramadan. 'There are actual foreign terrorists that come into Iraq that need to be dealt with, with more military means, more aggressive means, to stop them from coming in and root them out,' State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. 'The issue of people coming in from Syria has been an issue that we have dealt with, that we have raised, and we continue to raise on an ongoing basis with the Syrian government to prevent outside elements from coming in from Syria, who might get involved in this sort of thing.' The Syrian and other Arab mercenaries have been wooed by huge salaries and bonuses for attacks against U.S. troops and interests, officials said. They said the Al Qaida network has also decided to focus on U.S. civilian and other soft targets, particularly in the Baghdad area, to avoid insurgency casualties…" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- View Original Article Close Article Window -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Previous Article