Whistleblowers have come forward to report that the administration is trying to sell restricted nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia in violation of the Atomic Energy Act.
You may remember part of the hare-brained scheme General Flynn got caught up in was a business deal to build nuclear power plants all over the Middle East with Russia. Many in Trump’s rogues gallery were also involved with the deal, like Jared Kushner, the guy who handed top secret U.S. intelligence to the Saudi Crown Prince for an enemies list.
Nuclear power is dangerous. Fukushima is the most serious recent nuke disaster but there have been 57 nuclear accidents since Chernobyl, most of them in the United States. We’ve been lucky so far, which is why you haven’t heard of most of them. Adding more plants adds to the probability of regional disaster. Why does the Middle East need nuke plants to power a region with some of the strongest solar potential in the world? Solar power is only slightly more expensive than nuclear (and less expensive than coal) with the added benefit that it doesn’t irradiate an entire region if a piece of equipment fails, doesn’t generate radioactive waste that lasts thousands of years and is a lousy terrorist target.
So why does Saudi Arabia want nuclear plants?
The power plants Mike Flynn and the crew wanted to install in Saudi Arabia could also be used to produce material for nuclear weapons. Do you think Saudi Arabia, engaged in what many describe as a genocidal war in Yemen, with nuclear-armed Israel nearby (an ally for now) and nuclear capable Iran just across the Gulf, won’t develop nuclear weapons?
Of course Saudi Arabia would develop nuclear weapons.
Regardless of your opinions on the absolute monarchy, its support for terrorism and its “alliance” with the United States, increasing the number of states with nuclear weapons in the world increases the odds of nuclear war. There are nine states with atomic weapons, who are essentially standing waist deep in gasoline, each holding an unlit match. I don’t see how MBS running in and joining the crowd who can set the world on fire makes us any safer.
Our collective safety has never been a priority for the administration. Their own money is the priority. Like all grifters, the Trump gang wants to maximize their short term cash grab, not caring about the devastating long term consequences. We’ve seen this ranging in issues from the environment, the national debt and even our international alliances.
The difference is that this time they are doing it with nuclear proliferation. Have they ever considered we won’t be friends with the Saudis forever?
Kushner and the rest of the backroom cabal around Trump are eager to share U.S. secrets for a payoff, that much has been clear, if not proven yet by courts, for years. That they would do so with nuclear secrets to Saudi Arabia should not be a surprise.
Do you feel comfortable with our administration enabling a nuclear armed Saudi Arabia for personal profit?
I don’t.
Wes Clark Jr. 