A Nuclear Awakening in the Middle East
By CLAUDE SALHANI (Editor, Middle East Times )
Published: September 16, 2008
GENEVA -- Nuclear power and the Middle East is not all that much of a novelty; in fact long before Iraq, Iran and lately Syria toyed with the notion of acquiring nuclear technology for civilian use (if you believe the Syrians and the Iranians), or for military purposes (if you believe the cynics). Long before them, Egypt hoped to join the exclusive club of which to date, Pakistan remains the only Muslim country to have nuclear weapons.
Yet, as early as in the mid-1960s Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser displayed a keen interest in obtaining nuclear technology. And the Egyptians under Nasser probably would have acquired the know-how and the facilities, and possibly the bomb; had it not been for the Six-Day War.
Yet, as early as in the mid-1960s Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser displayed a keen interest in obtaining nuclear technology. And the Egyptians under Nasser probably would have acquired the know-how and the facilities, and possibly the bomb; had it not been for the Six-Day War.
The June 5, 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict changed the map of the Middle East, literally, as the State of Israel, at that time still in its teens, more than doubled its size. Israel captured the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from the Egyptians; the West Bank and East Jerusalem from the Jordanians; and the Golan Plateau from the Syrians. The war also put a damper on any sales of nuclear technology to the Arabs -- be it for civilian or military use, lest they be tempted to use those weapons against Israel in the next conflict, which there certainly was going to be more than one.
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