Self defence or arms race?

These are furphies. Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons to destroy Israel; its leadership is not so stupid as to annihilate itself by attacking a nuclear armed country with nuclear weapons. Iran is seeking nuclear weapons to defend itself and bring something closer to a balance of power in the Middle East - and these are legitimate goals.

Comparisons with the Holocaust are made to provoke emotion and hinder attempts by others to “think”. The Holocaust only occurred because Hitler and various Germans thought that they could get away with it. The leadership in Tehran - and President Ahmadinejad has nowhere near the power that Hitler had - know that they could not get away with what Tzipi Livni is suggesting.

What Israel really wants is to maintain what the US wants: power to call most of the shots. Sure, it is dressed up in nice words!

Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State has said: “American values are universal. Their triumph is most assuredly easier when the international (and Middle East regional) balance of power favours those who believe in them.” In other words, both Israel and the US are saying to others: we are better people than you, and you should do as we say.

An actual “world state” may not be the aim of the US any more than a Jewish dominated Middle East “state” is the aim of Israel, but General Caulaincourt’s words to Napoleon still resonate: “As a matter of fact, it is Your Majesty they fear. It is Your Majesty who is the cause of everyone’s anxieties and prevents them seeing other dangers.”

Both Russia and Iran will have a clear idea who their “enemy” is - and with considerable justification.