Israel Arrests Vanunu -- Arabs Tremble
In the news today: Israel Arrests Whistleblower.
It occurs to me that at this stage of the game, Mordechai Vanunu can't know any useful details about Israel's putative nuclear arsenal -- according to what has been published, he was some sort of low-level technician, not a weapons designer or military brass hat. It's been more than 10 years, IIRC, since he first surfaced, and weapons design -- if any -- would have long since made whatever he knew obsolete.
Does Israel have nuclear weapons? Probably -- but nobody knows for sure. Dimona may be nothing but a monstrously expensive underground barracks, where ShinBetniks lounge around and read Playboy. The IDEA, however, that it may be chock-full of awful things that can do horrendous damage to potential aggressors is worth every sheckel (and US$) spent on it -- to Israel.
But what about Vanunu? My devious Macchiavellian mind notes that whenever the Israelis need to put the wind up the local Mohammedan bandit regimes, all they need to do is very publicly arrest Vanunu, making sure that every news-critter in the Near East gets a personal invite. Vanunu himself can be depended upon to produce reams of colorful declamations about the nuclear nastiness supposedly stored in the Negev, and ready to dump on Terhan, Qom, or Riyadh.
The Press can also be depended on to generate tempests in teacups for a week or so, all of which does a good job of feeding the paranoia and raising the hackles of the various neighboring despotisms. Notice, also, that nobody in Israel is claiming Vanunu actually knows anything, or told anyone anything, just that he might tell somebody something. Great tradecraft.
Mazel Tov!!
It occurs to me that at this stage of the game, Mordechai Vanunu can't know any useful details about Israel's putative nuclear arsenal -- according to what has been published, he was some sort of low-level technician, not a weapons designer or military brass hat. It's been more than 10 years, IIRC, since he first surfaced, and weapons design -- if any -- would have long since made whatever he knew obsolete.
Does Israel have nuclear weapons? Probably -- but nobody knows for sure. Dimona may be nothing but a monstrously expensive underground barracks, where ShinBetniks lounge around and read Playboy. The IDEA, however, that it may be chock-full of awful things that can do horrendous damage to potential aggressors is worth every sheckel (and US$) spent on it -- to Israel.
But what about Vanunu? My devious Macchiavellian mind notes that whenever the Israelis need to put the wind up the local Mohammedan bandit regimes, all they need to do is very publicly arrest Vanunu, making sure that every news-critter in the Near East gets a personal invite. Vanunu himself can be depended upon to produce reams of colorful declamations about the nuclear nastiness supposedly stored in the Negev, and ready to dump on Terhan, Qom, or Riyadh.
The Press can also be depended on to generate tempests in teacups for a week or so, all of which does a good job of feeding the paranoia and raising the hackles of the various neighboring despotisms. Notice, also, that nobody in Israel is claiming Vanunu actually knows anything, or told anyone anything, just that he might tell somebody something. Great tradecraft.
Mazel Tov!!
posted by Sam'l B. at
7:04 PM
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