Nightmare of a Nuclear Iraq : Now Consistency Requires the U.S. to Pressure Pakistan

A government that hasn’t hesitated to murder its own citizens with poison gas probably wouldn’t hesitate to use nuclear weapons against its neighbors. That’s why the latest evidence of Iraq’s clandestine efforts to acquire nuclear arms raises anew chilling concerns about its capabilities and intentions.

Nuclear proliferation, which at a minimum multiplies the chances of disastrous miscalculation, is per se a bad thing. Nuclear weapons in the hands of a leader whose entire career gives evidence of an appalling contempt for the norms of civilized behavior is an especially bad thing. Iraq’s dictator Saddam Hussein is such a man.

For now, Iraq’s nuclear ambitions seem to have been set back. U.S. and British customs officials, after an 18-month-long sting operation, have foiled an alleged conspiracy to smuggle strictly controlled nuclear trigger mechanisms to Iraq. Some experts say these devices typically aren’t needed until a weapons program is far along. Others, however, suggest that Iraq is still some years away--five to seven is the consensus guess--from a true nuclear arms capability. So perhaps there’s still time to head off that grim prospect.

In 1981, Israeli planes bombed an unfinished reactor near Baghdad that could have been used to produce weapons-grade plutonium. The reactor was supplied by France, which more than once has put sales opportunities ahead of prudence when it comes to nuclear transfers. Since then, Iraq’s nuclear program has literally gone underground. In recent years it has spent a lot, both abroad and at home, to acquire missiles able to deliver nuclear or chemical warheads to targets hundreds of miles away. Israel, which is widely thought to have its own nuclear weapons, is one such target. Neighboring Iran may be an even more likely one.

Iraq denies any nuclear ambitions, citing its signature on the 1968 Non-proliferation Treaty. But Iraq also signed the 1926 treaty banning chemical weapons, an inconvenience that didn’t stop it from using poison gas against both Iran and the Kurds.

What can be done? The outstanding need is for responsible nations to intensify their efforts to prevent further nuclear transfers and proliferation. The United States can begin by applying to Pakistan, which has a highly developed secret nuclear weapons program, the sanctions American laws call for. What’s especially vital is that controls be intensified against countries that clearly menace international security. Iraq is preeminently such a country. A nuclear-armed Iraq would be a regional nightmare.