Panetta Exposes Rift With Obama Over Arming Syrian Rebels

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15. Israel threatened Syria and Egypt w/nukes in '73, as well as Iran now. Why should they have a

monopoly on nuclear weapons, and why should we threaten war so they can keep it?

Seems that if this Administration were really interested in counter-proliferation, we would be applying pressure and sanctions on Israel to retire it's nuclear arsenal, or at least to make a serious no-first-use pledge. Israel won't even formally admit to it's own formidable nuclear arsenal that goes back to just before it preemptively launched the Six Day War in '67, having just completed its first couple of deliverable A-bombs constructed with plutonium looted from a US Navy facility in PA, stolen right under the nose of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Wink, wink. Nod, nod.

Unlike Israel, Iran hasn't started a war in modern history. Unlike Israel, Iran doesn't have nuclear weapons, but given the behavior of the US and Israel in recent times, it hardly seems irrational for them to try to obtain that deterrent capability.