Saudi Shura council to discuss plan for "sudden radioactive hazards"???
Saudi Shura council to discuss plan for sudden radioactive hazards
dpa - International News Service in English
Mar 22, 2008 07:56 EST
Riyadh (dpa) - The Saudi Shura council will secretly discuss national plans to deal with any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards that may affect the kingdom following experts' warnings of possible attacks on Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactors, media reports said Saturday.
The Saudi-based King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology has prepared a proposal that encapsulates the probabilities of leaking nuclear and radiation hazards in case of any unexpected nuclear attacks in Iran, the Okaz Saudi newspaper said.
The Saudi Shura or consultative council plans to debate the proposal on Sunday. The power plants in the south-western Iranian port of Bushehr were built with German assistance in 1974 and resumed with Russian aid in 1992, after it had been stopped by the Islamic revolution. dpa str es pb
| Plan to Deal With Radiation Hazard Before Shoura Council Ghazanfar Ali Khan, Arab News |
|
RIYADH, 24 March 2008 — The Shoura Council has discussed a national plan to deal with any potential leakage of radioactive material in the Kingdom following warnings of possible attacks on Iran’s nuclear reactors.
“The plan to check radiation hazards was discussed by Shoura members, but it will be discussed and reviewed again before being tabled for voting,” a Shoura Council member said yesterday.
“The King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST) has prepared a proposal that encapsulates the probabilities of a nuclear and radiation leak in case of any unexpected attacks,” said the Shoura member, speaking on condition of anonymity.
This concern has also been echoed several times by Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal in his meetings with regional and international leaders. “Riyadh has been of the view that the Middle East region should be void of weapons of mass destruction,” said the member, without giving details of the Saudi plan.
A KACST nuclear scientist yesterday confirmed that an emergency plan to check radioactive leaks is there in place, but refused to provide details. He said that a national strategy has been prepared by KACST’s Atomic Energy Research Institute, set up by the Kingdom in 1988.
On the regional front, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has also been discussing the pros and cons of Iran’s nuclear program.
Power plants in the southwestern Iranian port of Bushehr, built with German assistance in 1974 and which resumed with Russian aid in 1992, have been the focus of global attention. The Gulf region as a whole is at a serious risk of a catastrophe due to military nuclear-powered and armed ships and submarines entering Gulf waters.
“Vessels come and go as they please with no one to monitor them,” said Dr. Abdulrehman Al-Awadhi, executive secretary of the Kuwait-based Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME).
“If there is a radiation leak in any of these vessels, it would spell disaster for the area,” he said, adding for the need to set up a framework to detect radiation. “The problem is that there are no measures that are in place to monitor these ships. While it is true that those on board the vessels would be affected, the damage to people like you and me, and the effects on the region’s fragile ecology would be tremendous,” said Al-Awadhi.
He added that there were only two ports in the whole US where nuclear powered ships were allowed to dock.
“This is done under very strict monitoring in the US,” he said, adding that all ships in Norway that enter the country’s waters are screened for radiation.
“Nothing like that happens anywhere in the Gulf. Radiation is an invisible, silent threat. It has no smell, no color and cannot be felt. The only way to detect it is to have special monitoring equipment. ... The Gulf region is so small and a leak in Bahrain could have a disastrous effect in Saudi Arabia or vice versa,” Al-Awadhi said.
He also said that any attack on Iran’s nuclear facility by the US or Israel could have very serious repercussions. “To say that such a facility will be free of risk is not right,” said the Arab scientist, adding that a mild earthquake in Japan recently had resulted in the closure of a nuclear power plant.
“Our concerns are regarding how to detect the presence of radioactive sources, prevent illicit use of such materials, respond to accidental radiation leaks and how to dispose of radioactive waste,” he said.
|
*******
Ok... first of all if the Saudi Shura Council were planning to discuss "secretly" and deal with "sudden nuclear hazard"..., why did the tightly controlled Kingdom so quickly leak the news?
Chris Floyd's blog claims that pursuant to Dick Cheney's meeting last Friday with the Saudi King, " it was revealed that the Saudi Shura Council -- the elite group that implements the decisions of the autocratic inner circle -- is preparing "national plans to deal with any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards that may affect the kingdom following experts' warnings of possible attacks on Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactors," one of the kingdom's leading newspapers, Okaz, reports. The German-based dpa news service relayed the paper's story."
Chris Floyd continues to say that "The story by Okaz -- which would not have appeared in the tightly controlled dictatorship without approval from the top -is yet another, very weighty piece of evidence laid in the scales toward a new, horrendous conflict."
I usually like Chris Floyd's blog, but I didn't like the "alarm bells" that it was ringing on account of the above Saudi news. Saudi Arabia is a staunch Bush ally and has been leading the US's 'psychological' war in the Middle East... much like Israel actually. Saudi Arabia has actively been selling the US/Israeli case against Iran... and Saudi Arabia has actively participated in US/israel incitement of political conflict in Lebanon between Muslims & Muslims and Muslims and Christians. In short Saudi Arabia has been playing along the US/Israeli axis, spreading lies and participating in a war on many non physical levels against Iran. Why shouldn't Saudi Arabia today help its close ally further escalate its threat level in the Middle East as he seems to be able to do nothing else? Isn't Saudi Arabia boycotting at presidential level the coming Arab League meeting in Syria because of the United States and Israel at the expense of the people of the Middle East? Why wouldn't Saudi Arabia join the US in a little more 'threat escalation'? The US navy has been stuck in the Persian Gulf for years now... while George Bush has been threatening and threatening with an endless war of words for years now; but he hasn't attacked... although there is no doubt that the US has the capacity to attack.
The question is: does the US have the capacity to withdraw without major losses? Can the US handle the inevitable losses it would incur? What would happen to the price of oil once the first bullet of the Iran war is shot? Can the US afford the rise in price? Of course the US might well be 'duped' into the war by the Israeli vultures who are hoping for a false flag, but the US has frankly made Israel's role very easy.
I think that this is psychological war.. and I still hang on to my theory that there will be no war with Iran... though I have to admit that things are not looking too good for my theory.
"I think that this is psychological war.. and I still hang on to my theory that there will be no war with Iran.."
I hope that there will be no war or other wars in the ME, especially against Iran.
Maybe all of these provocations are, like you said, psychological ploys to keep people scared and easier to control.
Another benefit for the ruling elite is that the price of oil keeps going up, putting untold wealth into Saudi Arabia's coffers.
So maybe that's the reason for all of this saber rattling.
But that would be in a sane world and currently, the world is anything but.
With the two of the world's most wanted war criminals, Bush and Cheney, calling the shots--literally--in Washington and with the craven, immoral and corrupt Congress standing by, with its proverbial thumb up its ass, anything can happen.
Bush's religious beliefs, which promote the "End Times" scenario, is more than troubling.
And Cheney, well, Cheney is just your garden variety lunatic, not unlike a serial killer or mass murderer, who gets his jollies from the grief, agony and misery he can dole out to others.
I don't believe in heaven, but i do hope there is a hell so war mongers like Bush and Cheney can spend an eternity experiencing the same types of punishments they gave to others while here on Earth.
Isn't is convenient that when oil prices begin to drop due to reduced consumer ability to pay, there is always the good old reliable Cheney trip to the middle east to stir up some fear and loathing. Dick and the saudi potentates of course have no ulterior motive to raise the price of oil. Cui Bono from these sword rattlings?