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New
Delhi, 29 August 2006
In
recent months a great deal has been said in the media India's
nuclear arsenal it seems to us that the Officials Secrets Act
1923 is not applicable to ministers, editors and other higher ups
but only to War Room leakers and such. Jaswant Singh, Shekhar Gupta
and Arun Singh have been forthcoming about our past in the media.
The commissions in Tehelkha took the toll of service officers only
but not of any one else Kapil Sibal in Parlaiment accused the BJP
of corruption and taking hard cash in Tehelkha and we saw silence of
BJP Leaders on TV.
In
any case people in uniform appear to be the only ones subject to the
draconian Officials Secrets Act in this information revolution.
Newspapers officially report secret notings from files they claim
are in their possession and this is becoming pass้. Shekhar Gupta
gave out all the secrets of India's nuclear quest and how PM's
secretly carried out the programmes to fruition.
Do
we think Iranians are dumb? Just because they signed the NPT are
they happy to see India and Pakistan go nuclear with no effects and
both countries being rewarded with F16s and Harpoons from USA while
Iran is threatened with sanctions? Twenty-five years ago Pakistan
said they would eat grass but go nuclear, and would Iran have been
sleeping? No nation worth its salt sleeps on National Security and
India too has woken up. USA showed a blind eye to Pakistan's nuclear
quest and AQ Khan gave Iran PI centrifuges and P2 designs which seem
to be in production now. More recently Iranian missiles in Hezbolla
hands played hell into Israel and now Europe is worried and sending
10,000 troops and Israel wants no Muslims in those lot. India should
immediately withdraw its 800 UNIFIL in Lebanon if we are a secular
country and pay our Jawans the full pay as they go there for the
money and should not suffer. We have spare UN money lying in New
York where two officers control it and the CAG wants it to be put
out on interest!
Iran thus feels compelled to go nuclear and their Dy Foreign
Minister comes next week to Delhi and lets see what he discusses.
Shekhar Gupta who was on the Defence beat and had the confidence of
many past PMs has been regarded as one of India's most investigative
editors which also means media savvy. He has been quoting ex PMs and
as editor of Indian Express hold s a special place in India as he
controls a newspaper and also has best connections with NDTV a
cut above others with Pranoy Roy. Inida's nuclear secrets are coming
out and the longer the Government keeps shut on its spending on
nuclear issues like the ATV the more the Government is likely to be
embarrassed as the days of secret spending except on Intelligence
should be avoided. India has a track record of corruption and black
money and all steps should be taken to see India comes clean as a
nuclear power.
Russia
kept many things secret and suffered when it broke up and tried to
be a democracy. We are not China where everything can be kept
secret. The secrets of Israel's nuclear capabilities are out in the
article below and this is another factor that will egg Iran to go
nuclear faster. The genie is out of the bottle and cannot be put
back easily. Go nuclear is the new mantra all over.
Associated Press |
August 25, 2006
JERUSALEM - With the purchase of two more German-made Dolphin
submarines capable of carrying nuclear warheads, military experts
say Israel is sending a clear message to Iran that it can strike
back if attacked by nuclear weapons. The purchases come at a time
when Iran is refusing to bow to growing Western demands to halt its
nuclear program, and after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has
called for Israel to be "wiped off the map." The new submarines,
built at a cost of $1.3 billion with Germany footing one-third of
the bill, have diesel-electric propulsion systems that allow them to
remain submerged for longer periods of time than the three nuclear
arms-capable submarines already in Israel's fleet, the Jerusalem
Post reported. The latest submarines not only would be able to carry
out a first strike should Israel choose to do so, but they also
would provide Israel with crucial second-strike capabilities, said
Paul Beaver, a London-based independent defense analyst.
Israel is already believed to have that ability in the form of the
Jericho-1 and Jericho-2 nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, which
are buried so far underground they would survive a nuclear strike,
he said.
"The Iranians would be very foolish if they attacked Israel," Beaver
said.
German officials have said the contract for the new submarines was
signed July 6, and the Jerusalem Post reported this week the subs
will be operational shortly.
Israel, operating on a policy of nuclear ambiguity, has never
confirmed or denied whether it has nuclear weapons. It is believed,
however, to have the world's sixth-largest stockpile of atomic arms,
including hundreds of warheads.
Iran so far has resisted calls by the U.N. Security Council to halt
uranium enrichment, which can produce, among other things, the
material for atomic bombs. The council set an Aug. 31 deadline that
is accompanied by the threat of sanctions.
The
dispute over Tehran's nuclear program revolves around Iran's
insistence it wants to master the technology simply to generate
electricity. Critics say Iran wants to make nuclear weapons.
The
Dolphin submarine could be one of the best deterrents, Beaver said.
The technology on the subs makes them undetectable and gives them
defensive capabilities in the case of attack, he said.
"They are very well-built, very well-prepared, lots of interesting
equipment, one of the best conventional submarines available,"
Beaver said. "We are talking about a third string of deterrence
capabilities."
Michael Karpin, an expert on Israel's atomic weapons capabilities
who published a book on the issue in the United States, said
nuclear-armed submarines provide better second-strike capabilities
than missiles launched from airplanes.
"Planes are vulnerable, unlike nuclear (armed) submarines that can
operate for an almost unlimited amount of time without being
struck," Karpin said. "Second-strike capabilities are a crucial
element in any nuclear conflict."
In
Germany, members of two opposition parties criticized the deal.
Winfried Nachtwei, national security spokesman for the Greens, said
the decision was wrong because Germany had obtained no guarantee the
submarines would not be used to carry nuclear weapons.
"This red line should not be crossed," Nachtwei was quoted as saying
by the newspaper Taz. "Otherwise it is a complete renunciation of
Germany's policy of non-proliferation."
David Menashri, an Israeli expert on
Iran,
said Tehran is clearly determined to obtain nuclear weapons and "the
purchase of additional Dolphin submarines by
Israel
is a small footnote in this context."
What also makes Tehran dangerous, Beaver said, is that it may not
understand the consequences of carrying out a nuclear strike.
"They (Iran) have a belligerent leadership and that's why Israel is
prudent in ensuring that it has that deterrent capability," Beaver
said. "What they (the submarines) are is a very good insurance
policy
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