USA and the Atomic Hypocrisy

USA and the Atomic Hypocrisy

No country has worked harder than the USA to destroy the value of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The spread of nuclear weapons proceeds at an alarming pace with the help of, or at least the implicit acceptance of, the United States government. Meanwhile, instead of dealing with its own infractions, the United States is busy pecking away at Iran (a member state of the NPT). Instead of pressuring countries that are in already in violation of the NPT, the USA is using the broken treaty to impose crippling economic sanctions, sew international discord, and amass its armies in the Mid-East. With the alarming build-up of troops, aircraft, ships and carriers in the Straight of Hormuz, peace has never been so fragile. The war drums continue to sound in the “Land of the Free,” where the thought of uranium being enriched in Iran has given rise to the implicit threat of nuclear war.

Nuclear weapons can be found in 14 countries around the world. Iran is not one of them. In fact, Iran’s desire to conduct peaceful nuclear activity is well within its rights as defined in article 4 of the NPT. So if the NPT only allows for 5 nuclear-weapons-countries, then which countries are actually breaking the rules of the game?

Non-NPT nuclear powers:

India, Pakistan and North Korea all possess nuclear weapons outside of the NPT. You would expect that the USA, willing to wage war on Iran for merely enriching uranium, would be enraged by these three countries. If other countries were to show blatant disregard for the NPT, surely they would be in hot water… Right? Actually, the American attitude toward India and Pakistan has been very accepting. North Korea has faced severe criticism of its nuclear program, but this acts only to illustrate the double standard that exists in American foreign policy: “if you have an economy worth trading with, or enough oil under your soil, you can break all the laws you want.” In the case of India, the USA is clearly flouting international law for its own gain. It not only tolerates India’s nuclear weaponry, but even has a nuclear cooperation agreement whereby American nuclear technology and expertise is exported to India. To say that American foreign policy in this area is inconsistent would be an understatement: the USA is not only corrupt in its efforts to police the globe, but it has also undermined its own crusade against nuclear proliferation in countries like Iran.

Undeclared nuclear powers:

With an estimated nuclear stockpile of up to 400 nuclear weapons and an illegitimate nuclear research center in the Negev desert, Israel is the sole nuclear power in the region. It stubbornly refuses to admit it has a clandestine nuclear weapons program, and has snubbed the NPT, so a neutral observer would assume that the USA would be threatening war with Israel. This is, after all, the rhetoric being offered to Iran. But despite Israel’s “undeclared [wink wink nudge nudge]” nuclear arsenal, the USA remains the devoted guardian of Israel, supporting and effectively propping up this nuclear regime financially, politically, and even militarily. It is obvious to any observer, then, that the USA doesn’t give a shit about the spread of nuclear weapons, as long as they are pointed at the “right” people.

Nuclear Weapons Sharing:

The United States, in violation of the NPT, has handed out nuclear weapons to NATO allies including Belgium, Turkey, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. The USA has claimed that, because its weapons remain under the control of the United States, the arrangement does not violate the NPT. However, Article 1 clearly states that each party should not “transfer to any recipient whatsoever nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices or control over such weapons or explosive devices directly, or indirectly.” Since the transfer of weapons and the control of weapons are two separate issues, it does not matter that the USA officially controls the trigger. The United States has blatantly violated the NPT by transferring nuclear weapons to five previously non-nuclear states. Furthermore, the countries that have received these nuclear weapons are in violation of NPT Article 2 for accepting the transfer of nuclear weapons. This whole mess has set a terrifying precedent for the future of nuclear non-proliferation. Would the American attitude be the same if, for example, Russia or China “shared” nuclear weapons with Venezuela or even Cuba? Obviously the goal of the USA is not to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in existence or even to reduce the number of countries that have them. It is about expanding American nuclear capabilities: the lip service being paid to disarmament is nothing more than a political game.

So with the USA and its allies flagrantly disobeying the most important nuclear treaty, one must wonder, “Why is the USA so concerned about uranium enrichment in Iran?” The answer, of course, is that the NPT is being hijacked by the USA and used as a source of cheap political leverage in international disputes. This is not just something that applies to the atomic question, either. American inconsistencies regarding human rights violations are another example of how the USA and its allies seem to be exempt from international obligations. Iran has been the subject of criticism for its nuclear research, but certainly the USA has been the real criminal on the international stage. The USA should not be silent about one rogue state while condemning another, so American pressure should be applied to Israel with at least the same severity as it is applied to Iran. American nuclear technology should not be shared with countries that disregard the NPT, and American nuclear weapons should not be transferred to other countries. If its mindless rhetoric on nuclear non-proliferation had any shred of sincerity, the USA would start following the rules of the game.

Mike Eisler