Did anyone else notice Barnaby Joyce Refer to Israel as a nuclear power on QandA last night?

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Israels nukes have been known about for a lot more then 5 years. And yeh an Israeli who blew the whistle was jailed for it(it being a state secret).
It's their policy not confirm or deny they have nukes, but it's no secret. They even did nuclear testing with South Africa. If they admit it it opens up another can of worms.

It's like the spying/recording of all electronic communications and the spying between governments. Everyone knew about it but none of them were going to openly admit it to the public..than Snowden blew his whistle before hiding in Russia.

It's the sole reason why their neighbors haven't tried to invade them for a long while.
 

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deaneus said:
Didn't catch it, but hasn't that been known for about five years?

Didn't some Israeli guy whistleblower it out and get life in prison?
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Yeah, Mordechai Vanunu. Israel reckons the deterrent is even better if its ambiguous (plus they can duck international treaties - they should look at North Korea ducking and weaving yet loudly stating the fact that they have them anyway), and Vanunu threatened that policy.
 
Malifice said:
Because it will encourage every other power in the region (Iran, Saudi Arabia etc) to develop their own nuclear deterrent.
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And then with MAD, theoretically the nuclear powers would have to respect each other rather than a one way street.
 
Geelong_Sicko said:
Yeah, Mordechai Vanunu. Israel reckons the deterrent is even better if its ambiguous (plus they can duck international treaties - they should look at North Korea ducking and weaving yet loudly stating the fact that they have them anyway), and Vanunu threatened that policy.
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Are we gonna believe someone with a name that clearly exposes him as a super villain.

But yeah, politics aside, I thought this was common knowledge.
 
JackOutback said:
Are we gonna believe someone with a name that clearly exposes him as a super villain.

But yeah, politics aside, I thought this was common knowledge.
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Yeah, it's definitely common knowledge to some. Younger people or those new-ish to the Palestine/Israel mess might still be getting to grips with all the players and the wheres and the whys and all that.
 
Malifice said:
Because it will encourage every other power in the region (Iran, Saudi Arabia etc) to develop their own nuclear deterrent.
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You do realise that's why Iran was already working on getting nukes in the first place, right?
Leading to Clinton as SoS to pay them off, not to outright stop it mind you; but delay it for 6-8 months.

While it is Israel's official position that "Israel will not be the first nation to introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle East" the fact that they do have a nuclear arsenal is one of the worst kept "secrets" in the world.
 
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Sol Invictus said:
While it is Israel's official position that "Israel will not be the first nation to introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle East" the fact that they do have a nuclear arsenal is one of the worst kept "secrets" in the world.
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That's why (for me anyway) the open admission by the Deputy PM of Australia (and member of the National Security Council) on public TV took me by surprise.

Like; Israel and Irans nuclear capabilities would have been discussed in the NSC (and would be above Top Secret level classification stuff; and yes, there are levels above Top Secret). Barnaby Joyce would be one of the few people in the world that objectively knows if Israel have them (or don't) based on collective intelligence gathering.

For him to openly discuss/ acknowledge it blew my mind. He either ****ed up (badly), or the official position of the Australian Government is to publicly acknowledge Israel as a nuclear weapons State (which he - as Deputy PM of Australia on national TV - clearly did).

I'm pretty sure the official position of the Australian Government is to neither confirm nor deny it (really, it would be not to not talk about it at all).

Which means this was a colossal * up.

Imagine if the Vice President of the USA did the same? Accidentally disclose a Top Secret classified bit of intelligence revealing Israel as a nuclear weapons State, all without State Department approval?
 
Malifice said:
That's why (for me anyway) the open admission by the Deputy PM of Australia (and member of the National Security Council) on public TV took me by surprise.

Like; Israel and Irans nuclear capabilities would have been discussed in the NSC (and would be above Top Secret level classification stuff; and yes, there are levels above Top Secret). Barnaby Joyce would be one of the few people in the world that objectively knows if Israel have them (or don't) based on collective intelligence gathering.

For him to openly discuss/ acknowledge it blew my mind. He either stuffed up (badly), or the official position of the Australian Government is to publicly acknowledge Israel as a nuclear weapons State (which he - as Deputy PM of Australia on national TV - clearly did).

I'm pretty sure the official position of the Australian Government is to neither confirm nor deny it (really, it would be not to not talk about it at all).

Which means this was a colossal **** up.

Imagine if the Vice President of the USA did the same? Accidentally disclose a Top Secret classified bit of intelligence revealing Israel as a nuclear weapons State, all without State Department approval?
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You don't really need to imagine, How about an Ex-President of the USA in Jimmy Carter?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7420573.stm
It's nowhere near the political gaffe you are making it out to be.
 
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If a Labor Deputy Prime Minister said it, Greg Sheridan would milk a week's worth of s**t out of it.
 
Malifice said:
Ex president. Imagine if he said it in office.
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The information he was privy to while President doesn't suddenly become invalid the moment he leaves office.
How about in 2006, ex-CIA director Robert Gates, in his confirmation hearing to become Secretary of Defense directly states Israel has nuclear weapons when questioned on Iran's president wanting to wipe Israel off the map.

MR. GATES: No, I don’t think he’s kidding. And -- but I think that there are, in fact, higher powers in Iran than he, than the president. And I think that while they are certainly pressing, in my opinion, for a nuclear capability, I think that they would see it in the first instance as a deterrent. They are surrounded by powers with nuclear weapons -- Pakistan to their east, the Russians to the north, the Israelis to the west, and us in the Persian Gulf --
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/05/washington/05text-gates1.html?pagewanted=print

That admission did nothing to stop him from actually taking the role as Secretary of Defense.
This isn't even going into the countless times Israeli leaders themselves have let slip the fact that they have nukes in their possession.
 
Malifice said:
Because it will encourage every other power in the region (Iran, Saudi Arabia etc) to develop their own nuclear deterrent.
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But isn't it meant be a deterrent? It's like not having stickers warning people you have CCT and an alarm system.
 
Malifice said:
The Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, and member of the National Security Council, Just openly referred to Israel as a nuclear power on national TV.

Anyone else catch this?
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I thought Israel built its first nuclear arsenal with Sth Africa assistance in the 70s - Sth Africa supplied the uranium and Israel provided key products, technology and the delivery systems.

but it seems they had achieved their goal in the 60s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_and_Israel
 
Power Raid said:
I thought Israel built its first nuclear arsenal with Sth Africa assistance in the 70s - Sth Africa supplied the uranium and Israel provided key products, technology and the delivery systems.

but it seems they had achieved their goal in the 60s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_and_Israel
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They did Power Raid and South Africa had them to or possibly still do? I wonder? As for Barnaby Joyce, he is a f****ng idiot and he is the Deputy Prime Minister.
 
Northalives said:
They did Power Raid and South Africa had them to or possibly still do? I wonder? As for Barnaby Joyce, he is a f****ng idiot and he is the Deputy Prime Minister.
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South Africa was apparently the First Nation, globally, to de-nuc their arsenal
 
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