Posted on 02/23/2011 4:26:01 PM PST by Pan_Yan
Mideast Arms Race: If you think surprise upheavals of long-stable Islamic regimes are scary, how does a nuclearized Saudi Arabia courtesy of France grab you? The fallout from Iran's nuclear program is arriving.
The kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced a deal with France to collaborate on the research, development and handling of nuclear materials — for peaceful purposes only, of course.
Why would the world's biggest oil exporter, the country with the most reserves on the globe, be investing in nuclear energy of all things? The Saudis' official reason is that they wish to reduce their country's consumption of oil and gas in the coming decades, good enviro-conscious players on the world stage that they are.
The truth, however, is that Saudi Arabia has been more than mildly interested in nuclear-weapons capability for a lot longer than most might realize.
In 1988, Los Angeles Times reporter Jim Mann revealed that an obscure U.S. official whose job was to keep track of airstrip construction around the world had recently "looked at a reconnaissance photo of the Saudi Arabian desert and noticed something extraordinary about a newly constructed airfield" — that the Saudis were installing Chinese CSS-2 intermediate-range missiles, which are designed to carry atom bombs.
With a range of about 1,500 miles, Saudi Arabia could use such rockets to attack Israel, India, Russia — or Iran.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
I read years ago that they had some non-ballistic nukes. May have been erroneous?
What do they expect them to do, allow the forces aligned against them to win? It is human nature to hang on to power as long as possible. With nukes, they can take out their Sunni and Shia foes in other lands, when the dust settles from these “democratic” uprisings.
“...the country with the most reserves on the globe...”
.
It has been established that the US has more proven reserves. Only ours are worthless because they remeain unused.
After we give everything a few years to cool off can we just break through the glass and start pumping the oil again?
whoa...
Why don’t we save them some money and sell them a few nukes? They can hire us to run their silos, as well.
The experts predicted that if the Persians get The Bomb the Arabs will have to get it to defend themselves from them.
Tech support could still be done in india it would no be a long..... long distance phone call
With a range of about 1,500 miles, Saudi Arabia could use such rockets to attack Israel, India, Russia — or Iran.
Or, with only a slightly longer-range missile, France.
Nukes? Just a little EMP weapon would be enough.
Don’t worry, the Saudi Royal Family is not going to nuke their customers.
Do you have a source on that?
Saudi’s been doing the WMD shuffle for many years, nukes *and* the largest bioweapon effort in the world after biopreparat folded.
The US always knew.
Who's to say the Royal Family remains in charge?
If islamists anywhere in the world get into a war for all the marbles with a nuclear power, Mecca and Medina are logical targets.
If the Allah described in the Koran exists, Mecca and Medina are under divine protection by an omnipotent god.
If Mecca and Medina can be obliterated, than any Allah that exists is not the omnipotent god described in the Koran and the Hadith. Destroying them would be a knockout moral blow.
The Saudis have to see the precariousness of their situation.
I believe that Saudi has had nukes for two decades. CSS-2 missiles, which they have, were developed for nukes only. They are very inaccurate and of no use except as nuclear weapons delivery devices or giant erasers for looks (http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/missile/saudi.htm). Logic dictates that the Saudis can certainly afford the nukes and China would be willing to deliver them for the right price. Why purchase a large number of CSS-2 missiles without nuclear payloads? The answer is - nobody would!
The nuclear weapons allegedly came from China via Pakistan with Chinese technicians in charge of maintenance and upgrades. This missile uses a very toxic fuel and when it is being fueled, humans must be in full environmental protection suits as sealed as an astronaut space suit. Very nasty stuff. Saudis, of course, do not do this fueling.
An interesting book entitled The Gold of the Exodus by Howard Blum, is about where the real Mt. Sinai is located and alleges that the Saudi had nukes as a side note. The book was written in 1998.
I also know that the Israelis did train to take out some bases in Saudi much like they had done on the Iraq Tammuz nuclear facility in 1981 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Opera).
A nuclear Saudi would have been a game changer in the Middles East especially in the First Gulf War as the CSS-2s were reportedly being targeted at Baghdad. If this were true, then the First Gulf War was unnecessary. Politically public knowledge of this would be a disaster for US foreign relations so it has always been denied at the highest levels. BTW, I was against sending troops to Saudi in support of Kuwait in 1991 for some strange reason!
OK thanks for the info.
“If this were true, then the First Gulf War was unnecessary”
I don’t see how you got there. Saddam was never going into Saudi. “desert shield” was just a rouse of course. But the Saudis wouldn’t have nuked him toget them out of kuwait
-———Saddam was never going into Saudi.-——
You are very very wrong. The Iraqi’s actually entered Saudi Arabia at Kafgee and were driven off buy a Qatari armored unit and Saudi Ttoops backed by a small unit of US Marines.
Only France?! Don’t think so.
The house of Saud came into existence long ago, thanks to British support.
The point is that as long as the West (in general, regardless of whether it is France, Britain, U.S., etc..) makes S.Arabia or any part of the moslem world their own so-called playground or for their own interests (factual or perceived by most of the population in the ME/N.Africa region), we, in the West, will continue to have problems (oil inclusive) & there will be trouble brewing in that region, which will, eventually, affect us in the West too.
I watched David Cameron’s recent visit to Egypt with some interest. It was gracious of him to admit that Britain, for example, has been a key player in the ME region for some time due to its wish for maintaining its own interests, and that now he wished to see a shift to ‘democracy’ in the region....
Same time, there are many ordinary people in the ME/N.Africa, who continue to ask: So, Mr David Cameron, will the British & Western gov’ts’ interests cease to exist now? Or, why on earth do you care about ‘democracy & freedom’ in our countries, when you’ve shown no interest in them for decades, if not centuries, beyond installing (religious or secular) gov’ts who have served your own purpose!
You understand that the above is not necessarily my views, but the general sentiments echoed in the ME/N. African region.
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