Saturday, September 19, 2009

Canada tries to block IAEA from passing motion for Israel to join NPT

Rather interesting that Canada goes even further than the US, no doubt with US support, and attempts to condemn the resolution as unbalanced. It is not explained how it is unbalanced. Iran is a member of the NPT (non-proliferation treaty)
The reaction of the Conservative government is interesting in that the Liberal government took a different tack when Cuba joined the NPT many years ago.

""On September 20, Canadian Foreign Minster Bill Graham succinctly voiced the sentiments of many of his counterparts around the world: "This is a significant step for Cuba and an important gesture in support of a multilateral, rules-based system governing disarmament and non-proliferation... Cuba's decision will make it part of a community of 188 states that are members of the NPT. Its accession will bring the NPT, the most widely adhered-to arms control treaty in existence, one state closer to universality. Canada calls on India, Israel and Pakistan, states that have not signed the NPT, to follow Cuba's example and accede to the Treaty as non-nuclear-weapon states."" """

NOTE: Obviously if Israel were inspected by the IAEA it would be found that it already has nuclear weapons. Oh no! They did it all on the sly too and imprisoned for years Mordechai Vanunu who blew the whistle on them.

Here is the article re Israel's rejection of the call to join NPT.

Israel ‘Deplores’ IAEA Call to Join NPT
Posted By Jason Ditz On September 18, 2009 @ 6:06 pm
The Israeli government has officially said that it “deplores” the vote by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) member states to call on Israel to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and submit their nuclear facilities to the same oversight as the rest of the world does.
The vote narrowly passed, 49-45, and was generally opposed by Western nations while being supported by UN Security Council permanent members Russia and China, as well as most of the nations in the Middle East.
The United States ambassador Glyn Davies publicly rejected the resolution, calling it “redundant” and claiming that calling on Israel to join the NPT as every other nation in the Middle East has unfairly singled them out.
Canada went one step further, trying to block the vote entirely and condemning it as “unbalanced.” Votes on similar resolutions had been successfully blocked in 2007 and 2008, but this year’s attempt at blocking it failed.
The issue of Israel as a nuclear power and a non-signatory of the NPT has been controversial, and when a US State Department official said in May that the US wanted everyone to join the NPT Israel reacted with shock and outrage.

No comments: