by Stephen Lendman

It's an open secret. It's been known for years. Media scoundrels suppress it. They pretend none exists.

It's real. It's menacing. Imagine ignoring what threatens humanity. Imagine pretending Iran's peaceful nuclear program does so. Imagine risking regional or global war by doing it.

London's Guardian is an establishment broadsheet. It's usually conformist. Once in a while it's not.

It wrote many times about Edward's Snowden's revelations. It told readers what they need to know. On January 15, it headlined "The Truth about Israel's secret nuclear arsenal."

Rarely ever would US establishment publications suggest one. Or Israel's chemical and biological weapons.

They're used freely against Palestinians and other adversaries. Doctors discover injuries never saw before seen. Media scoundrels ignore them.

Israel's nuclear program is one of the world's best known open secrets. It's still not publicly acknowledged. It's hard refuting indisputable evidence.

Israel began developing nuclear technology decades ago. It did so "deep beneath desert sands," said the Guardian.

It "us(ed) technology and materials provided by friendly powers…" It did it the old-fashioned way. A "clandestine network of agents" stole it.

It's the "stuff of pulp thrillers and the sort of narrative often used to characterise the worst fears about" Iran's nuclear program. One's military, the other entirely peaceful.

"In reality…neither US or British intelligence believes Tehran has decided to build a bomb..." Its program is the world's most closely monitored.

Israel's is entirely clandestine. It's illegal. Iran's fully complies with NPT provisions. Israel won't sign the landmark treaty. It wants nothing about its program revealed. It wants freedom to enhance it.

Its open secret reflects "an extraordinary feat of subterfuge," said the Guardian. It produced a powerful arsenal. It's enhanced by long-range delivery systems.

Israel threatens to use all its weapons if threatened. It's used chemical, biological and radiological ones against Gaza and Lebanon. It'll do it again in future conflicts.

Despite open knowledge of its nuclear program, Israel's position is never confirm or deny. In December, former Knesset speaker, Avraham Burg, broke the taboo.

He said Israel has nuclear and chemical weapons. He called official non-disclosure "outdated and childish." He called for "open and brave public discussion."

He said only "regional dialogue, including with Iran" could create a nuclear-free Middle East. Burg is a former Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee member.

He has direct knowledge of Israel's nuclear program. The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel is a right-wing group. It wants Burg investigated. It accused him of "treason."

He revealed a key national security secret, it said. He disclosed what's increasingly common knowledge. Israel's nondisclosure policy is nonsensical.

Western governments play along with Israeli "opacity." Obama won't discuss it. Nor other US officials. Nor media scoundrels. They pretend none exists.

Britain is largely silent. In November, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi was asked about it in the House of Lords. She tried being circumspect.

She said what's rarely heard. "Israel has not declared a nuclear weapons programme. We have regular discussions with the government of Israel on a range of nuclear-related issues," she said.

"The government of Israel is in no doubt as to our views. We encourage Israel to become a state party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty."

According to the Guardian, countries conspiring with Israel's nuclear program include America, France, Germany, Britain and Norway. It omitted South Africa.

Israeli agents were involved. So was a Hollywood billionaire. Arnon Milchan admitted his role. He did so last month.

He was born in Israel. He supported Israel's nuclear program decades ago, saying:

"Do you know what it's like to be a 20-something-year-old kid (and your) country lets (you) be James Bond? Wow! The action! That was exiting."

He operated in 17 countries. He worked with 30 companies. He brokered deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

It was a challenge overcoming his arms dealing reputation, he said. He had to convince people he didn't "live off selling machine guns and killing."

He risked his life aiding Israel. Israeli President Shimon Peres was its unacknowledged nuclear weapons architect.

He recruited Milchan. Actor Ben Affleck calls him "a very mysterious, exotic figure in Hollywood." Actor Robert De Niro asked about his clandestine activities for Israel.

"He (said) he was an Israeli and that of course he would do these things for his country," De Niro said.

He had no qualms about being a secret agent. He wasn't concerned about its illegal nuclear program.

He didn't consider its potential harm. He ignored its destructiveness. Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, secretly ordered developmental activities.

It began after Israel's creation. Ehud Avriel was a European operative. He was a later MK. He recruited East European Jewish scientists.

Avraham Marcus Klingberg was enlisted. He later became an Israeli chemical and biological weapons (CBW) expert. He was Israel Institute of Biological Research deputy director.

Ernst David Bergmann was the father of Israel's bomb. He later headed the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC).

In his farewell address to the Israeli Armaments Development Authority (RAFAEL), Ben-Gurion defended his agenda, saying:

"I am confident, based not only on what I heard today, that our science can provide us with the weapons that are needed to deter our enemies from waging war against us."

He and Peres were the leading forces behind Israel's nuclear and CBW programs.

By the early 1970s, Israel had advanced nuclear technology. It had world class scientists. It had several dozen ready to launch bombs. It had delivery systems able to hit distant targets.

France and South Africa were Israel's main collaborators. Washington supplied a five-megawatt research reactor.

It was part of Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" program. Washington became complicit in Israel's illicit development.

Israeli scientists were trained at US universities. They had access to domestic weapons labs.

They got advanced technology transfers. They included supercomputers able to design sophisticated nuclear weapons and delivery systems.

Mordechai Vanunu became a heroic whistleblower. He did so long before term gained prominence. He exposed Israeli nuclear secrets. He revealed what everyone has a right to know.

He was unjustly punished. Israel dispenses it ruthlessly. He spent 18 years imprisoned. He was isolated brutally in solitary confinement.

He's been harassed ever since. His fundamental civil and human rights are denied. He's prevented from leaving Israel. He wants to do so to live free.

Daniel Ellsberg once called him "the preeminent hero of the nuclear era." Vanunu says he's neither traitor nor spy. "I only wanted the world to know what was happening," he said.

From 1988 - 2004, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize each year. His heroism is recognized worldwide.

Israel has destructive chemical and biological weapons arsenals. In 1993, it signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

It refused to ratify it. It did so for spurious reasons. It wrongfully claims it's surrounded by hostile neighbors. Israel's only enemies are ones it invents.

It never signed the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). Its policy is CBW ambiguity. It uses banned weapons in all its conflicts.

They include chemical, biological, and radiological ones. Monstrous new weapons are tested. Victims attest to their potency.

Corpses bear witness to hideous wounds, malformations and toxicity. Official policy prohibits discussing anything related to Israel's nuclear, chemical or biological programs. Doing so is considered treason.

Israel's destructive weapons threaten world peace. So do America's. Both countries partner in crime.

Daily events should scare everyone. Warmakers win peace prizes. Peacemakers are vilified. Criminality is rewarded.

Permanent war is official US policy. Israel is a warrior state. Both countries threaten humanity. It may not survive Obama's second term.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com

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