Former US Secretary of State Alexander Haig has warned Iran to expect an Israeli strike similar to the 1981 surprise bombing of an Iraqi nuclear reactor if Tehran pursues a nuclear weapons program, adding that Israel could save the world by such an attack.
"If the Israelis do launch a preemptive strike [on Iran], it may be saving the world a lot of trouble," Haig told the Jerusalem Post.
"I think the Iranians ought to know that if they develop nuclear weapons they are risking an Israeli attack. And certainly if they ever consider using them they are facing something much worse," he said interview published Wednesday.
Although Israel has a nuclear arsenal larger than any other in the Middle
East, it views Iran's nuclear program as a threat to the region.
Haig was one of only two members of President Reagan's cabinet to defend the Israeli attack on Iraq in 1981.
Haig said he made the point in describing how the US would have faced the prospect of a nuclear-equipped Iraq in the Gulf War had Israel not demolished the reactor there a decade earlier.
Haig's comments came a day after a US citizen was convicted in Spain of selling nuclear weapons parts to Israel. Richard Kelly Smith was arrested two weeks ago after 16 years on the run.
An electronic engineer, Smith fled the United States in 1985 after a court found him guilty of breaking US laws on the sale of nuclear materials.
Israeli newspapers reported Tuesday that Smith's arrest has caused a "deep unease" in the country's defense ministry.
Israeli officials fear that Smith could give away information about
Israel's nuclear program, reported the Haaretz daily newspaper.
Smith reportedly used counterfeit documents to export 850 krypton microchips manufactured by his company in the United States to Israel's defense ministry.
Krypton triggers are used to detonate nuclear bombs.
Police in the United States discovered that between 1973 and 1985, 80 percent of sales by Smith's Los Angeles-based company, Milco, were to
Israel.
At the time, Israel insisted its purchases from Milco were used for pharmaceutical purposes.
Smith, 71, was arrested by Spanish police in Malaga, who are now considering a request to extradite him to the United States.
According to the United Press International (UPI), Israel refuses to disclose whether it has nuclear weapons, although recent reports by nuclear watchdogs, like the German institute for strategic studies, say that it has a large nuclear arsenal.
‘THOSE WHO WANT TO INDICT SHARON ARE VERY DISTURBED’
On another issue, Haig said that those seeking to indict Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on charges of war crimes for the 1982 Sabra and Shatilla massacre are "very disturbed."
"This mania that started in Spain with the president of Chile and cascaded around the world, even including a recent book saying that Henry Kissinger should be called a war criminal... these people are very disturbed in their outlook. I would certainly put [the attempt to try Sharon] in that category," Haig said.
Haig had already been replaced as US secretary of state by George Shultz by the time of the massacre. It has been reported that Haig gave Sharon an American green light for Israel's heavily criticized initial invasion of Lebanon in June 1982, according to The Jerusalem Post.
I HATE TO SEE EU RUN ROUGHSHOD OVER THE US
On whether monitors should be sent to the Middle East to document Israeli-Palestinian violations of the cease-fire and oversee implementation of the Mitchell Committee's recommendations, Haig, who was instrumental in setting up a multinational peacekeeping force in the Sinai, said: "You can't adopt historical models to different circumstances."
"I would hate to see the United States be steamrollered by Europeans who have had a fixed position on these issues for a number of years," Haig told the paper, echoing Israeli concerns that a monitoring team that included Europeans could be biased against Israel.
PALESTINIANS MANIPULATED BY IRRESPONSIBLE, PARANOIAC AND REPRESSED LEADERSHIP
Haig said he believes Israel has lost "total confidence in the ability of [Palestinian President Yasser] Arafat to negotiate anything in a reliable way, and his track record confirms that's true." He said the Palestinians have been "manipulated by irresponsible leadership" and seem "paranoiac and repressed in terms of their ability to make change."
Asked if he believes Sharon has exercised restraint so far in the Intifada, Haig said: "I think he's doing his very best, even at the risk of his own political well-being... I don't think anyone could ever accuse Sharon of being a softy."
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
