In an opinion piece from the Saudi Arabian Arab News, writer Hassan Tahsin explains his point of view that the United States and Israel must be the first to disarm, before Iraq or other states. Tahsin explains, ?After Sept. 11, the United States added to its war on terrorism the disposing of weapons of mass destruction. First of all, what are weapons of mass destruction? Who possess them? Who has the ability to manufacture and use them? Which country has previously used them??
As to who owns them, the Saudi author points out that ?[t]he five permanent members of the UN Security Council possess the whole range of weapons of mass destruction and are fully capable of using them. In addition, others with the weapons include Israel, India, Pakistan and possibly North Korea. Chemical and biological weapons are available to a large number of countries and are sometimes known as ?the poor man?s bomb?.? In an oblique reference to US Secretary of State Colin Powell?s presentation to the United Nations, the author writes, ?None of these countries, however, make their capabilities public and I believe that these are well known to the American administration whose ability to gather information by a wide variety of means is very great.?
Finally, the Saudi article turns to the last question, the one intended to place the US in the role of accused. As the opinion piece says, ?we know very well that the only time a nuclear weapon has been used was by the US when it destroyed the two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This leads us logically to demand that Washington be the first nation to dispose of its own weapons of mass destruction. As for chemical and biological weapons, these were used a number of times by various European powers from the beginning to the end of the 20th century. The US record of using these weapons can be summarized in the following way: The US used biological weapons in 1966 during the Vietnam War. They were used against civilian populations and also to destroy both crops and forests. In 1971, the CIA attempted to kill Fidel Castro by poisoning his food or cigars, but failed in these attempts. The CIA also killed half-a-million pigs in Cuba by spreading plague.?
Another country that Arab News feels must be disarmed before any Arab state is Israel. Israel, writes Tahsin, in a new blood libel, ?was another leader in the use of chemical and biological weapons; it began doing so by spreading dysentery among the Palestinians in 1948.?
The opinion article concludes, ?The obligation to disarm falls first on the countries that have already used these weapons and only then on those which merely possess them. Nonetheless, all countries should meet in a new expanded international conference and take a more positive stand aimed at disposing of all kinds of weapons of mass destruction without exception; otherwise the problem will never be solved.?
As to who owns them, the Saudi author points out that ?[t]he five permanent members of the UN Security Council possess the whole range of weapons of mass destruction and are fully capable of using them. In addition, others with the weapons include Israel, India, Pakistan and possibly North Korea. Chemical and biological weapons are available to a large number of countries and are sometimes known as ?the poor man?s bomb?.? In an oblique reference to US Secretary of State Colin Powell?s presentation to the United Nations, the author writes, ?None of these countries, however, make their capabilities public and I believe that these are well known to the American administration whose ability to gather information by a wide variety of means is very great.?
Finally, the Saudi article turns to the last question, the one intended to place the US in the role of accused. As the opinion piece says, ?we know very well that the only time a nuclear weapon has been used was by the US when it destroyed the two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This leads us logically to demand that Washington be the first nation to dispose of its own weapons of mass destruction. As for chemical and biological weapons, these were used a number of times by various European powers from the beginning to the end of the 20th century. The US record of using these weapons can be summarized in the following way: The US used biological weapons in 1966 during the Vietnam War. They were used against civilian populations and also to destroy both crops and forests. In 1971, the CIA attempted to kill Fidel Castro by poisoning his food or cigars, but failed in these attempts. The CIA also killed half-a-million pigs in Cuba by spreading plague.?
Another country that Arab News feels must be disarmed before any Arab state is Israel. Israel, writes Tahsin, in a new blood libel, ?was another leader in the use of chemical and biological weapons; it began doing so by spreading dysentery among the Palestinians in 1948.?
The opinion article concludes, ?The obligation to disarm falls first on the countries that have already used these weapons and only then on those which merely possess them. Nonetheless, all countries should meet in a new expanded international conference and take a more positive stand aimed at disposing of all kinds of weapons of mass destruction without exception; otherwise the problem will never be solved.?