Reply #8: I can't imagine it ever happening, and I doubt if the U.S. is serious. [View All]

[daleo]

I think they recognize that Israel's possession of nuclear weapons will inevitably lead to further nuclearization of the middle east, and feel the need to at least pay lip service to this contradiction. But, it seems to me this is just part of the buildup to invading Iran - it is a gesture toward dealing with the hypocrisy of caring about WMD when Muslims have them but not when Israel has them. I can't see the neo-cons actually meaning it, though.

I think Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons for the same reason Canada didn't pursue nuclear weapons. For a smaller country on the border of a superpower to possess a nuclear counterforce would cause more danger than it would prevent. The same is probably true of South Africa, who has no nearby neighbors that threaten it now that apartheid is gone.