Bizarre, Military, Politics, Society

Adelson: Nuke Iran

220px-Sheldon_Adelson_crop250px-Nuclear_fireballSheldon Adelson, American mogul, believes that President Obama is not only mollycoddling Iran but failing to use a key vehicle for diplomacy that has too long been ignored: nuclear weapons. Adelson called on Obama to nuke Iran last week. Not Tehran mind you. We would start with a nuclear explosion in the Iranian desert.

Adelson is the chairman and chief executive officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. He also owns the Israeli daily newspaper Israel HaYom. He was the largest financial backer of Newt Gingrich in his campaign for president. He then donated tens of millions of dollars to defeated Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. His newspaper, Israel HaYom is viewed as closely allied with Benjamin Netanyahu.

Adelson made his startling remarks at Yeshiva University after moderator Rabbi Shmuley Boteach asked whether the US should negotiate with Iran.

Adelson, the nuclear diplomat, barked “What are we going to negotiate about?” Instead, he suggested that we call up the Iranian president and say “watch this” before exploding a nuclear bomb in the Iranian desert: “Then you say, ‘See! The next one is in the middle of Tehran. So, we mean business. You want to be wiped out? Go ahead and take a tough position and continue with your nuclear development. You want to be peaceful? Just reverse it all, and we will guarantee you that you can have a nuclear power plant for electricity purposes, energy purposes.'” Of course, we would have to add some decontamination equipment and radiation exposure measures.

This proposal appears based on Adelson’s belief that either Iranians are not aware of what nuclear explosions look like or not aware that we would be insane enough to nuke their nation (and spread radioactive fallout into the atmosphere) just to make a point. Of course, we signed the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963, banning nuclear tests in the atmosphere, underwater and in space. Of course, this would not be a test but an insane demonstration of power.

Rabbi Boteach did not appear in any way shocked by the suggestion of nuking a nation as a diplomatic gesture: “So a tremendous demonstration of American strength? So that they would get the message?” Adelson responded “It’s the only thing they understand.” It is not clear why Iranians can possibly understand anything short of a nuclear explosion. Adelson insisted that Obama does not realize that this is all simply “a game of chicken, who’s going to blink first?” Or in this case, who will explode the first nuclear weapon to make a point.

Rabbi Boteach later insisted that the suggestion to nuke Iran should get people to think about the double standard applied to Israel. Some have argued that it is a double standard in standing silent to Israel’s possessing nuclear weapons while threatening to go to war over Iran’s possession. However, Boteach was referring to the view that the U.S. is far harder on Israel than Iran — despite billions in aid that we continue to give one of the wealthiest nations on Earth. Boteach added “I would hope that those who seem alarmed by Sheldon’s overstatement on the extent to which the United States should go to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon will at least protest that much more loudly against its actual development.”

Most people are really not prompted to think more deeply about world stability but Edelson’s sanity. It also reflects an utter detachment from the implications of spreading radiation over parts of a major nation, if not over much of the Middle East.

38 thoughts on “Adelson: Nuke Iran”

  1. randyjet 1, October 28, 2013 at 11:58 am

    Dredd, I see that you try and HIDE the FACT that Israel did NOT sign the NPT. You cannot be held accountable for not abiding by a treaty you did not sign. So your argument is that Iran CAN void its agreement it signed, and Israel should be held accountable for something it did NOT sign!
    …
    ============================
    Slow down when you read something and your chances of getting it are increased. Hopefully.

    That text I quoted comes from the U.S. Department of State website and the Associated Press.

    A fifth or sixth grader can research the data and find that Israel is the rogue when it comes to ridding the Middle East of nuclear weapons, and that Iran is the more normal nation in the equation.

    You have to be really unaware of the history of the Middle East not to see that (Viva Egypt – 2, Universal Smedley – 2).

    The Israeli government’s position on nuclear is “size matters.”

  3. We need to consider the source of this crazy statement. Addelson has bet on so many losers on the political scene, it is amazing that his casinos are profitable. I do not like the idea of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons, but I also am not in favor of Israel being able to have them either Randy, why won’t Israel sign the treaty??.

    1. rafflaw, The reason Israel will not sign the NPT is that it would require it to open its nuclear sites to international inspection in return for nuclear technology. There is no advantage for Israel to do so and lots of disadvantages for them to sign. They obtained their nuclear technology on their own and developed it without outside aid. Had Iran or North Korea done the same and not signed the NPT, they would not be under any obligation to give up their weapons or allow inspections. Since they have violated their signed agreements under which they got nuclear technology, I am all in favor of using whatever force is needed to force them into compliance, including military force. Both nations need to be held to account for their violations of their treaty obligations. Israel is under NO such obligation.

  4. This is their answer to everything – blow it up. If they can’t blow up Iran, then they’ll have to settle for American economy

    1. “He also lives on a golf course.”

      Nicky

      You’re so cute, in a stupid way of course. 🙂

  7. The state of American discourse today has devolved to the point where a man who makes his money getting people to gamble is quotable when it comes to Foreign Policy. Mr. Adelson, like the Koch Brothers is a self involved buffoon.
    But today in America, where Las Vegas has become a metaphor for our country “money talks.”

  8. Yes, this is precisely WHY Iran is trying to hang on to or improve some sort of nuclear capability! If I lived that close to a rogue country practicing religious extremism, dividing the country into first & second class citizens, whose totally psycho prime minister may well have engineered 3/11/11, I’d be doing the same. Perhaps America & Israel need that wake up call of a nuke in their deserts, but the truth of the matter is that nukes cannot be used again without endangering the planet. If a nuclear warhead was in fact used by that Israeli drilling company on the Fukashima fault line, aparently backed by Netanyahu, that line may already be crossed.

  9. I wonder if Adelson invokes President Reagan? If so, this comment made by President Reagan certainly would conradict where Republicans stand today.

    “It is my fervent goal and hope that we will someday no longer have to rely on nuclear weapons to deter aggression and assure world peace. To that end the United States is now engaged in a serious and sustained effort to negotiate major reductions in levels of offensive nuclear weapons with the ultimate goal of eliminating these weapons from the face of the earth.” Ronald Reagan, October 20, 1986.

  10. Dan and Randyjet, yep.

    If I was Iran I’d be looking for a balance of terror myself.

  11. randyjet 1, October 28, 2013 at 10:07 am

    While I hate this crooks statements, it is wrong to state that there is a double standard as regards Israeli nukes. Israel did NOT sign nor is it a party to the NPT, while Iran IS and got their nuclear technology under the terms of that treaty. Iran alone is the nation that violated that treaty, NOT Israel. Thus the US and the UN DO have legitimate reasons to use force against Iran if it does NOT comply.
    =========================
    Better information:

    The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was opened for signature in 1968 and entered into force in 1970. It has nearly 190 Parties, giving it the largest membership of any arms control treaty in the world. The Treaty comprises legally binding nonproliferation commitments and is the basis for international cooperation on stemming the spread of nuclear weapons. It is widely regarded as the legal and political cornerstone of the nuclear nonproliferation regime and as containing three main concepts or “pillars” – nuclear nonproliferation, disarmament, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. In Prague on April 5, 2009 President Obama said that the basic bargain at the core of the Treaty is sound: “countries with nuclear weapons will move towards disarmament; countries without nuclear weapons will not acquire them; and all countries can access peaceful nuclear energy.” The President also called on NPT parties to take steps to strengthen this vital nonproliferation instrument.
    …
    High-level talks between Israel and its Muslim neighbors regarding a nuclear weapons-free zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East have been canceled by the US and Israel.

    A nuclear weapons-free zone has been repeatedly proposed, only to have Israel – the only state in the region with nuclear weapons – reject it in favor of maintaining this nuclear monopoly, further destabilizing the region, and keeping the threat of others’ nukes as a primary excuse for its militarism.

    Diplomats tell the Associated Press that the US, one of the organizers of the meeting on this latest NWFZ proposal, would likely make a formal announcement of its cancellation soon, claiming that “the time was not opportune.”

    While Iran is a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, has publicly pledged its opposition to nuclear weapons development, has subjected itself to thorough international inspections, and in fact has exactly zero nuclear weapons, Israel has done none of the above and has approximately 200 nuclear warheads. Iran is being severely punished and threatened with attack, Israel is supported with unparalleled economic, military, and diplomatic support.

    (Origin of the Classic Nuclear Bully – 2).

    1. Dredd, I see that you try and HIDE the FACT that Israel did NOT sign the NPT. You cannot be held accountable for not abiding by a treaty you did not sign. So your argument is that Iran CAN void its agreement it signed, and Israel should be held accountable for something it did NOT sign! That is simply incredible! That is why your contentions are pure BS. Now if Iran wishes to withdraw from the NPT, it can do so, but then it must give BACK all the equipment and technology it got as a result of having signed it.

      Of course the fact is that nukes are only good for use against those who do not have them. So I can sympathize with Israel needing such weapons since they are much smaller and live under a more immediate threat of extinction by conventional weapons than any other country in that region. Having nukes is the ultimate assurance of being able to survive as a nation for those is such a position.

  13. Which will play into Israel long term goal of a “Greater Israel”. Check out the map of Greater Israel. And us stupid americans are its cannon fodder to fight its wars.

  14. While I hate this crooks statements, it is wrong to state that there is a double standard as regards Israeli nukes. Israel did NOT sign nor is it a party to the NPT, while Iran IS and got their nuclear technology under the terms of that treaty. Iran alone is the nation that violated that treaty, NOT Israel. Thus the US and the UN DO have legitimate reasons to use force against Iran if it does NOT comply.

  15. The world is in deep trouble. Deranged religious-warmongers are the political mainstream. The idea of peace, development, or our common humanity is considered dangerously radical.

  19. “Most people are really not prompted to think more deeply about world stability but Edelson’s sanity.” – JT

    Yep.

    But they are going to have a very difficult time finding Edelson’s sanity.

Comments are closed.