Who Calls the Tune For U.S. Policy in the Middle East?

Yosi Beilin, an Israeli ex-cabinet minister said, in an article from the New York Times (6/28/10), “Let Jordan enrich its own uranium.” He noted that, “Israel is creating a new enemy for itself, the kingdom of Jordan … we do not need to lose the only Arab state with which we have peace-like relations.”

In a previous post I clearly stated that the government of Jordan should not yield to pressure by the American government to not enrich its own uranium for its nuclear reactor. The American government wants Jordan to buy the enriched fuel for its reactors. Mr. Beilin and I share the same rationale, that the recent discovery of more than 65,000 tons of uranium ore in Jordan will facilitate the nuclear reactor operation and save the country money, which is badly needed for other purpose. The Jordanian government has also declared publicly that the nuclear reactor is a public and private operation tot provide the needed transparency.

Furthermore, Jordan has been importing its fossil fuel from its Arab neighbors, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The future production of energy from the nuclear reactor will provide a great deal of financial help to the Jordanian economy, which is under heavy foreign debt. Also, the future energy production will help Jordan to desalinate water from the Red Sea for its pressing shortages of fresh water. Also, part of the water will be used to cultivate some of the more than 30,000 acres of land along the Eastern side of the Jordan River. The land used to be irrigated from the Jordan River until Israel diverted more than 90% of its water to Israel in violation of international law.

Jordan should have never signed the peace treaty with Israel until it reverses the flow of the Jordan River back to its natural flow. Israel politicians are unworthy of the trust and always depend on their military power rather than rational judgment.

This tragic political behavior is attributed to the two main factors. The first is the Zionist expansionist policy, which has been the main force behind Israeli aggressions since the creation of the state in 1948. The second factor is the total military and political support by the U.S. of Israel. Regardless of what Israeli politicians do, even when they violate international law and commit all sorts of atrocities, the U.S. government jumps to provide an umbrella of protection, even when this hurts America’s national interests. Such blind support enables the Israeli politicians to act above the law. Israel can count on at least 75% of the U.S. members of Congress to support Israel, regardless of the issue. Ex-Senator Fritz Holling stated clearly that the U.S. Congress will implement what the Israeli’s demand from them without questions asked.

The U.S. government pressure on Jordan not to enrich its own uranium for its peaceful use is attributed to the Israeli pressure on the U.S. government. It is no longer a hidden fact that the Israeli government has adopted a policy for more than fifty years to prevent Arab states from acquiring nuclear technology. I have pointed out in previous posts that Israel bombed the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981 and the Syrian nuclear facilities in 2007. Furthermore, they have been applying a great deal of pressure on the U.S. government in particular and the West in general to prevent Iran from enriching their own uranium. Israel even states publicly that they will bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities if they don’t stop their uranium enrichment. It will come as no surprise if the Israelis will push the U.S. to get into a war with Iran. Who will end up paying the price for Israeli political adventures? On the other hand, if the Israelis are so terrified of weapons of mass destruction, then they should accept the Egyptian proposal to turn the Middle East region into a zone free of weapons of mass destruction. Israel will never surrender its nuclear arsenal because it wants to maintain its military superiority in the region.