The New Republic

I've often thought that June 7, 1981 was the day when the king of Saudi Arabia first blessed Menachem Begin, the prime minister of Israel who made the decision to have the air force take out the Iraqi nuclear facility at Osirak.  Thereafter the rulers of what goes in the Arab world for moderate states commended Begin's soul to the almighty.  After all, he had saved them -not only Israel- from destruction.  Of course, Saddam Hussein was a Sunni and so were they, although the tyrant was a madman who territorial and political aspirations against Iraq's Arab neighbors.  Even without a bomb, the Baghdadi oppressor tried to conquer Kuwait.

Now all these Sunnis face a Shi'a enemy, an enemy which takes the difference between the two sects very seriously.  In fact, for the Shi'a it's a deadly difference -as it is for many Sunnis, as well.My guess is that King Abdullah has already made room in his prayers for the prime minister of Israel (whoever it is) and that he or she has the bravery of Begin to resist the critical tut-tutting (in many cases, hypocritical) and take out the fruits of Dr. A'jad's nuclear engineering.Anyway, these thoughts below came to me when I read this collage of statements (assembled by MEMRI) from Iran about the future or Egypt and Saudi Arabia.  But these thoughts come to me often.  Don't be shocked.  Do you want to live in a world where Shi'a fanatics have their fingers on nukes?Not to say that Sunni Pakistan's possession of atomic bombs is any more reassuring.

share this article on facebook or twitter print this article