Conghaileach
18th January 2003, 14:51
http://www.jordantimes.com/Sun/opinion/opinion4.htm
The Jordon Times, Sunday, January 5, 2003
Israel, Iraq and WMD
By Mazin Qumsiyeh
ISRAEL, A known nuclear power, refuses to sign the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, yet it collects massive US aid, contrary to US
laws banning aid to such nations.Furthermore, while Bush claims efforts to
prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, there is clear
evidence that the US supplied such material to Israe l, Iraq and other
countries. The best example was revealed in 1992, when an Israeli El Al
cargo flight originating in New York crashed upon takeoff from Amsterdam
airport on its way to Israel, killing 53 Dutch citizens in their apartment
buildings. On Sept. 30, 1992, the Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad published the
results of the investigation into the nature of the chemicals carried by
the flight: it had been carrying three of the four ingredients used to
manufacture sarin gas.
According to the Shipper's Declaration of Dangerous Goods, the shipment was
destined for Israel's Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) in Nes
Ziona. More shocking was that the 189 litres of dimethyl methylphosphonate
(DMMP) carried was sufficient for the production of 270kg of sarin and was
supplied by Solkatronic Chemicals of Morristown, Pennsylvania (also
supplier to Israel of other "security chemicals").
The executive vice president of Solkatronic, John Swanciger, confirmed th
at Soltkatronic had the required export licences both for the original
shipment and subsequent "replacement" shipments. He also confirmed that
Israel was the only country to have ordered DMMP.
Israeli authorities initially denied the plane's cargo of dangerous
chemicals, although later acknowledged the shipments, claiming they were
for "test filters in masks and other applications".
On Oct. 4, 1998, Uzi Nahmaini, of the London Sunday Times, detailed the
extent of chemical and biological agents being developed at IIBR. He quoted
an unnamed biologist who worked at IIBR as saying: "There is hardly a
single known or unknown form of chemical or biological weapon ... which is
not manufactured at the institute."
The Amsterdam engineering firm Omegam also investigated the crash site and
discovered evidence of tributylphosphate (TBP), an industrial chemical used
to recycle uranium and plutonium from spent fuel rods. This was the process
used in Israel, as described by Mordechai Vanunu when he exposed Israel's
nuclear weapons programme.
Incinerating these chemical components via a plane crash or a missile
targeting storage site apparently produces a hazardous gas mixture. This
happened in Holland (700 victims) and again in the Gulf War. The Veterans
Administration has, as of May 2002, granted disability benefits to 159,238
Gulf War soldiers (over 8,000 of these veterans died since 1990). Most
disabled veterans suffer from the ubiquitous Gulf War syndrome, which
includes the same symptoms as those of the victims in Holland (autoimmune
disease and central nervous system abnormalities).
The beating of the drums of war against Iraq without acknowledging these
facts is hypocritical at best. Our government seems satisfied when WMD
aremade and used by us or our allies (including Saddam when we supported
him). The doctrine of preemptive attacks, borrowed from Israel, is even
more dangerous, with history showin g it to be a complete failure.
War benefits the military and the oil CEOs. Weapon exports and control of
oil are reasons why the CIA toppled the democratic government of Moussaddaq
in Iran, in 1956, and installed the brutal Shah regime. During the
Iran-Iraq war, the US sold weapons to both nations (but mostly to Iraq)
while looking the other way on use of WMD on the battlefield.
Reading Israeli papers today we find that Israel wants war so that Iraq is
reconstituted under US tutelage as a check against Iranian power and to
ensure Israel's hegemony in the area. It is so obvious that war is not in
US public interests. Will President George Bush, Vice President Dick
Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Defence Adviser Richard Perle
and their company fight in the war? Will they suffer from Gulf War
syndrome? Will they, AIPAC and other Israeli apologists pay like the rest
of us? It seems that, to the contrary, they will get richer and more
powerful a t our expense, while misleading the public about WMD.
It is time to start telling the American taxpayers the truth about why we
continue these disastrous foreign policies.
.........................
The writer is a Palestinian American associate professor at Yale and
co-founder of the Palestine Right to Return Coalition and
AcademicsForJustice.org. He contributed this article to The Jordan Times.
The Jordon Times, Sunday, January 5, 2003
Israel, Iraq and WMD
By Mazin Qumsiyeh
ISRAEL, A known nuclear power, refuses to sign the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, yet it collects massive US aid, contrary to US
laws banning aid to such nations.Furthermore, while Bush claims efforts to
prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, there is clear
evidence that the US supplied such material to Israe l, Iraq and other
countries. The best example was revealed in 1992, when an Israeli El Al
cargo flight originating in New York crashed upon takeoff from Amsterdam
airport on its way to Israel, killing 53 Dutch citizens in their apartment
buildings. On Sept. 30, 1992, the Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad published the
results of the investigation into the nature of the chemicals carried by
the flight: it had been carrying three of the four ingredients used to
manufacture sarin gas.
According to the Shipper's Declaration of Dangerous Goods, the shipment was
destined for Israel's Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) in Nes
Ziona. More shocking was that the 189 litres of dimethyl methylphosphonate
(DMMP) carried was sufficient for the production of 270kg of sarin and was
supplied by Solkatronic Chemicals of Morristown, Pennsylvania (also
supplier to Israel of other "security chemicals").
The executive vice president of Solkatronic, John Swanciger, confirmed th
at Soltkatronic had the required export licences both for the original
shipment and subsequent "replacement" shipments. He also confirmed that
Israel was the only country to have ordered DMMP.
Israeli authorities initially denied the plane's cargo of dangerous
chemicals, although later acknowledged the shipments, claiming they were
for "test filters in masks and other applications".
On Oct. 4, 1998, Uzi Nahmaini, of the London Sunday Times, detailed the
extent of chemical and biological agents being developed at IIBR. He quoted
an unnamed biologist who worked at IIBR as saying: "There is hardly a
single known or unknown form of chemical or biological weapon ... which is
not manufactured at the institute."
The Amsterdam engineering firm Omegam also investigated the crash site and
discovered evidence of tributylphosphate (TBP), an industrial chemical used
to recycle uranium and plutonium from spent fuel rods. This was the process
used in Israel, as described by Mordechai Vanunu when he exposed Israel's
nuclear weapons programme.
Incinerating these chemical components via a plane crash or a missile
targeting storage site apparently produces a hazardous gas mixture. This
happened in Holland (700 victims) and again in the Gulf War. The Veterans
Administration has, as of May 2002, granted disability benefits to 159,238
Gulf War soldiers (over 8,000 of these veterans died since 1990). Most
disabled veterans suffer from the ubiquitous Gulf War syndrome, which
includes the same symptoms as those of the victims in Holland (autoimmune
disease and central nervous system abnormalities).
The beating of the drums of war against Iraq without acknowledging these
facts is hypocritical at best. Our government seems satisfied when WMD
aremade and used by us or our allies (including Saddam when we supported
him). The doctrine of preemptive attacks, borrowed from Israel, is even
more dangerous, with history showin g it to be a complete failure.
War benefits the military and the oil CEOs. Weapon exports and control of
oil are reasons why the CIA toppled the democratic government of Moussaddaq
in Iran, in 1956, and installed the brutal Shah regime. During the
Iran-Iraq war, the US sold weapons to both nations (but mostly to Iraq)
while looking the other way on use of WMD on the battlefield.
Reading Israeli papers today we find that Israel wants war so that Iraq is
reconstituted under US tutelage as a check against Iranian power and to
ensure Israel's hegemony in the area. It is so obvious that war is not in
US public interests. Will President George Bush, Vice President Dick
Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Defence Adviser Richard Perle
and their company fight in the war? Will they suffer from Gulf War
syndrome? Will they, AIPAC and other Israeli apologists pay like the rest
of us? It seems that, to the contrary, they will get richer and more
powerful a t our expense, while misleading the public about WMD.
It is time to start telling the American taxpayers the truth about why we
continue these disastrous foreign policies.
.........................
The writer is a Palestinian American associate professor at Yale and
co-founder of the Palestine Right to Return Coalition and
AcademicsForJustice.org. He contributed this article to The Jordan Times.