The Iran-backed Houthis of Yemen attacked Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, with missiles. The US warned this situation could “escalate rapidly.”
Trump cut short his weekend at Camp David to return to the White House, ostensibly because of this new development. The White House did not say.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also cut short a trip to the United States and returned to Israel.
Against this scenic background of instability and bloody warfare, the White House is pressing Congress to provide the Saudis with America’s nuclear know-how so they can enrich uranium.
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For years, the world has lived in peace under a nuclear deterrent known as “Mutually Assured Destruction,” or MAD. A key component of this policy has been to prevent nuclear proliferation to unstable or dictatorial regimes.
Preventing Iran from building a bomb is one of the reasons Trump initially cited when he launched his illegal, unilateral war against Iran.
Internal whistleblowers, nonproliferation experts, and bipartisan members of Congress fear the could trigger a Middle East nuclear arms race, giving Riyadh a pathway to develop nuclear weapons
Trump now says the Saudis must join the Abraham Accords to to obtain the US technology. The Wall Street Journal reports that this condition is nowhere to be found in any proposals or document presented to Congress.
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It was only after the announced deal was highly criticized that Trump added this Abraham Accords requiremen ad hoc. It may be that the Saudis are not even aware; Trump is not exactly a credible reporter.
The Journal editorial board called this “giving away the nuclear store.”
But Congress will quite likely approve whatever the master demands.
The United States has historically restricted the dissemination of this secret technology, but here is the irresponsible Trump, handing it to the Saudis, who are in a hot war environment, and do not play well with their neighbors.
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And anyone who thinks they are not ruthless, doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
What in the world is Trump possibly thinking?
If the United States gives this nuclear technology to the Saudis, that can enable them to build a nuclear weapon, anticipate that other US allies are going to want the same.
The Stimson Center recently asserted that this will set off a nuclear competition around the world. As American allies like the Saudis receive this technology, Stimson writes, the Russians and the Chinese will provide similar technology to their allies.
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Everything we have done for decades to prevent nuclear proliferation seems to be going up in mushroom cloud.
Why?
Even if the Saudis agreed to join the Abraham Accords the price to the United States and the rest of the world is way too steep.
What was Trump thinking when he agreed to release this technology to the Saudis and why in the hell is the spineless Congress not acting to block this “deal?”
Jim Astrachan is lawyer who represents clients in intellectual property law and litigation, mediation, and business, regulatory, and transactional matters. He’s a Life Fellow of the Baltimore City Bar Foundation, the Maryland Bar Foundation, and the American Bar Foundation.