Wednesday, August 17, 2005

A Non-Nuclear Solution Thanks to a Nuclear Resolution

With all the talk about Iran's nuclear programme and the alleged threat of Iran's nuclear ambitions, it seems to me useful to have, and spread, some background information which would allow people to view the issue in its legal context.

Indeed, one of the most interesting UN Security Council resolutions remains unmentioned, even by Iranian officials, although it could offer a basis for a denuclearisation solution for the Middle East. I am referring here to
United Nations Security Council Resolution 487 of 19 June 1981. It was voted after Israeli warplanes destroyed an Iraqi nuclear facility.

Noting that "Israel has not adhered to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons", the resolution, among other decisions, "calls upon Israel urgently to place its nuclear facilities under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency." UNSC Resolution 487 was adopted unanimously. In other words, the US voted for it.

The full text of the resolution is on page:
http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/6c57312cc8bd93ca852560df00653995?OpenDocument

Twenty four years after the adoption of UNSC Resolution 487, Israel keeps violating it. Nothing and nobody can make Israel feel how urgent "urgently" is although
United Nations Security Council Resolutions are binding.

I think that this is a subject worth brining up. If Israel complies with Resolution 487, would not this encourage Iran to place its own nuclear facilities under the safegards of the IAEA? Just wondering.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Born Again

It seems that George Bush Junior is a born-again Christian. Whatever that really means, this is what the man himself claims to be in his autobiography-style book "A Charge to keep" (see chapter 10 of the book if you can stand it.)

A thought crosses my mind: Rather than being born again, wouldn't it have been more natural, more straightforward, more time saving, and more beneficial for Bush Junior to simply grow up?

Monday, August 01, 2005

تنذكِر ما تنعاد

كلّما سمعتُ فيروز تغنّي "تنذكِر ما تنعاد ، و نشوفَك بالأعياد" لا أدري لماذا أتخيَّل أنّها تخاطب جنديّاً سوريّاً.
ثمّ تتابع "بسّ انساني" ولكن كيف يكون ذلك وسط التّلاسن و الضغوط و المسائل العالقة؟
في نهاية المطاف ستكون هناك دولتان متكافئتان تحتاج كلّ منهما الأخرى فهل تعقِلان؟