Nuclear weapons worldwide data

This BBC article lists countries with nuclear weapons and how many they have.

Total world nuclear warheads are estimated be 20,000. Many however are not operational.

Only about one quarter or 5,000 of the total are operational. Countries are secretive about how many nuclear weapons they have. Israel officially does not even admit it has any.

The Federation of American Scientists has made estimates of stockpiles of each nuclear country based on information that is available.

Russia has the largest stockpile with 2,430 operational weapons and an estimated 10,000 in all. The U.S. has 1,950 that are operational with a total of 8,500.

In comparison to the U.S. and Russia other countries have relatively few nuclear warheads. France has 290 operational and 300 stockpiled. China is said to have 0 operational but 240 stockpiled.. The UK 160 operational and 225 stockpiled.. Israel has 0 operational but about 80 stockpiled.

Pakistan has 0 operational but between 90 and 110 stockpiled. India also has 0 operational but about 80to 100 stockpiled. The two countries are about equal in stockpiles.

Finally North Korea has 0 operational and less than 10 stockpiled. Obviously there is a huge task ahead if nuclear weapons are to be eliminated. No doubt Russia and the U.S. could both eliminate some of their stockpiles without endangering any power balance.

Vanunu avoids jail

This is from the Times. It is costly to be a whistleblower in Israel especially when it comes to their unmentionable nuclear program! Even talking to the press about it is a crime after having served 18 years in jail already. Israel neeedn't worry. Count the number of times Iran's nuclear program is mentioned in the press against that of Israel!


Vanunu avoids jail
The Israeli government has backed down over a threat to imprison Mordechai Vanunu, who served 18 years for revealing its nuclear weapons programme to The Sunday Times and now stands accused of breaching the conditions of his 2004 release by speaking to foreign reporters, writes Peter Hounam.

Vanunu is due in court on Tuesday to challenge a six-month sentence for giving interviews. Avigdor Feldman, his lawyer, said that Vanunu had accepted the proposal of a community service order instead.

Gates: Israel no nuclear threat to neighbors.

Probably it is no nuclear threat right at the moment since it can well handle any of its neighbors using its huge conventional military might. Of course Israel refuses even to acknowledge it has nuclear weapons just two nuclear reactors but it is well known that it has. Gates made the horrendous gaff of actually stating that it did some time back.
Of course if Iran had nuclear weapons it would change the balance of power in the Middle East that is the problem. Iran would not be likely to use its weapons except as a bargaining chip since any use of nuclear weapons could result in a devastating counter-attack.
Many US citizens seem oblivious to the transparent hypocrisy of their government on the nuclear issue. Gates could easily give his speech in the US without any laughter.

Israel no nuclear threat to neighbors, says Gates



MANAMA (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates defended Israel's nuclear program on Saturday, saying the Jewish state did not seek to destroy its neighbors or support terrorism, unlike Iran.

Asked at the Manama Dialogue conference whether he thought Israel's nuclear program posed a threat to the region, Gates replied: "No, I do not."

The statement was greeted by laughter from a room filled with government officials from Middle Eastern countries.

Israel is widely assumed to have the region's only atomic arsenal, but refuses to confirm or deny it. Washington has long avoided pressing Israel to go public with its capabilities.

Gates did not specifically mention Israel's nuclear weapons or arsenal, but responded to questions about its "nuclear program" -- giving the Pentagon chief room to dismiss any suggestion that he implicitly confirmed the existence of nuclear weapons in Israel.

He dismissed the allegation that the United States applied a double standard on the nuclear issue by supporting Israel while calling for Iran to abandon its enrichment activities, which Tehran says are for peaceful purposes.

"Israel is not training terrorists to subvert its neighbors. It has not shipped weapons into a place like Iraq to kill thousands of innocent civilians covertly," Gates said.

"It has not threatened to destroy any of its neighbors. It is not trying to destabilize the government of Lebanon.

"So I think there are significant differences in terms of both the history and the behavior of the Iranian and Israeli governments. I understand there is a difference of view on that," he said.

Iran denies U.S. allegations that it has armed, trained and funded Shi'ite militias in Iraq, blaming the violence in Iraq on the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003.

A year ago, Gates first angered Israelis during testimony to the U.S. Congress by including Israel in a list of nuclear-armed countries in the regions around Iran to explain why Tehran might have sought the means to build an atomic bomb. He has not publicly discussed it since.

Israel admits to having two atomic reactors, describing them officially as research facilities. Its refusal to discuss any nuclear weapons capabilities or accept international inspections at the facilities is a major irritant for Arabs and Iran, which see it as a contradiction in U.S. policy in the region.

(Editing by Andrew Dobbie)



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Mordechai Vanunu: Back in Jail

The new charges against Vanunu have not been given much publicity. In fact the Israeli nuclear weapons program and the fact that it has nuclear weapons is rarely mentioned in the press. The pressure to have a nuclear free Middle East does not include Israel (or Pakistan if it is in the middle east). It doesn't really matter that Israel has nuclear weapons since it is pro-US. It is only if nuclear weapons are obtained by those opposed to the US that there is any big fuss made.

Back Behind Bars
The Unbreakable Mordechai Vanunu
By RANNIE AMIRI

"I said to the Shabak, the Mossad, 'you didn't succeed to break me, you didn't succeed to make me crazy.'"

Mordechai Vanunu, former Israeli nuclear technician, upon being released from Ashkelon's Shikma prison on April 21st, 2004, where he served 18 years.

They were words of courage and defiance, uttered by a man who embodied both. Mordechai Vanunu spent 18 years in jail, a full 11 of them in solitary confinement, for revealing Israel's yet undeclared nuclear capability to the world. He had emerged from Shikma with arms outstretched, repeatedly flashing the victory sign ­ or was it peace? ­ and refused to answer questions posed to him in Hebrew from the awaiting media. "I am proud and happy to do what I did," he unabashedly stated.

And what he has done since will now land him back behind bars.

An Israeli court has just sentenced Vanunu to six months in jail for violating the terms of his parole, which prohibit him from having any contact with foreigners or visiting the West Bank. As in all matters, he was fearless in doing both.

It thus behooves us to retell this man's remarkable story, lest we forget what a person of conscience can achieve.

Mordechai Vanunu was the first to expose Israel's dirty little secret: it was a major atomic power. He worked as a technician at the Dimona nuclear plant in the Negev desert from 1976 - 1985. Then, in a 1986 interview with London's Sunday Times, he disclosed pictures that not only proved Israel had the capacity to produce nuclear weapons, but was actually in possession of them.

Just prior to the publication of his interview on October 5, events unfolded as if they came straight off the pages of a Robert Ludlum thriller. On September 30, Vanunu was lured by a female Mossad agent from London to Rome, where he was captured and scurried off to Israel. Behind closed doors he stood trial for treason, was quickly convicted and sentenced to an 18-year term. If the Israeli government had hoped he would quietly and contritely fade away, they were sadly mistaken.

Vanunu vociferously renewed his call for Israel to come clean regarding its nuclear arsenal (reportedly the world's fifth largest) and open the Dimona reactor to international inspection. Israel still remains the only country in the Middle East to be a non-signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has likewise barred entry to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) personnel.

Israeli politicians, from left, right and center, roundly heaped scorn on Vanunu after his release, whom they dubbed a "traitor." Conditions of his parole included prohibition of traveling abroad for one year or possessing a passport, limitation of his movement within the country, speaking with non-Israeli citizens, and discussing anything related to his former work at Dimona. These restrictions were condemned by Amnesty International who demanded their rescindment, citing Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which permit a citizen to move freely about or leave the country of their citizenship.

Although the term "whistleblower" is often used to describe Vanunu, it is a rather weak and understated characterization. He was a siren, alerting the world that nuclear weapons had found their way into the Middle East, shattering Israel's official policy of nuclear ambiguity.

Born in Morocco, Vanunu converted to Christianity before being imprisoned. He felt both his religious and political views (a staunch advocate of Palestinian rights) led to the harsh treatment he received while incarcerated, which he described as "cruel and barbaric."

Despite interrogation by the world's most ruthless intelligence agencies and imprisonment in what could have only been unforgiving conditions, Vanunu endured, saying:

"I am a symbol of the will of freedom, that you cannot break the human spirit."

A Nobel Peace Prize recipient in waiting and a true hero of our time no less.

Rannie Amiri is an independent commentator on issues dealing with the Arab and Islamic worlds. He may be reached at: rbamiri@yahoo.com.