Hide and Seek…writes Michael Kuttner
At some stage most children have played the game hide and seek where a designated individual closes his/her eyes, counts to 20 or 50 or 100 while the other kids run and hide as quickly as possible.
Michael Kuttner
The aim of course is to avoid detection and therefore those hiding try to do so in the most creative manner possible. As soon as the time limit has expired the person doing the seeking proceeds to track down as many as possible within a given time frame. Those discovered are out of the game while those escaping detection try to remain hidden for as long as possible in order to force the hunter to give up. The winner of course is the child who manages to avoid discovery and emerges triumphant from the secret hiding place.
This game has been played for countless generations all over the world and is guaranteed to bring hours of amusement and excitement to those involved.
Triggering my memories of these activities are the antics now playing out on the international stage. Instead of harmless childish games however, we are witness to a far more dangerous and potentially lethal version. In place of innocent children the participants this time are scheming adults who have a far more sinister purpose. Those doing the hiding are secreting not only themselves but weapons of mass destruction while those doing or about to do the hunting are members of the impotent international community, many of whom have supplied the raw materials in the first place or have a vested interest in making sure that their hidden hordes are never discovered and destroyed.
The case of Iran and its many years of successfully hiding and evading detection of its nuclear facilities is a classic example of how this “game” is played. Over a long period this country, which with impunity threatens the elimination of another UN member, has developed weapons of mass destruction and successfully managed to hide the sites where this is taking place. The seekers, in this case the International Atomic Agency, after a period of surveillance were unceremoniously tossed out of the country and banned from continuing with their monitoring activities. In the interim the number of secret locations increased and the pace of acquiring nuclear weapons to be used against Israel gathered pace. Thanks to deceptions, clever hiding places and an international community reluctant to face realities, Iran has almost achieved its stated objectives.
North Korea, a rogue state if ever there was one, does not even bother to hide its nuclear arsenal and rocket manufacturing plants. Instead it thumbs its nose at the Americans and Europe safe in the knowledge that their feeble attempts at containment are doomed to crash. That is why they marched unimpeded with the benign support of the Chinese towards developing long range rockets, refining their weapons and exporting their technology to such stalwart allies as Iran and Syria.
Belated sanctions, half heartedly applied, combined with countries willing to circumvent them means that those doing the hiding are well on the way to winning this contest. As an added bonus the current Syrian fiasco gives those hiding their nuclear activities a fresh shot of hope that they can get away Scott free. After all if the fearless leaders in Washington take this long to deal with the gassing of men, women and children, then there is every expectation that success is on the side of the hiders and not the seekers. Moreover with the backing of such paragons of democracy and human rights as Russia and China, the promise of more deliveries of sophisticated weapons and technology and the hypocrisy of the UN, the Iranians are likely to be over the finishing line in no time at all.
This brings us to the continuing farce of Syria. As the US Congress and the Senate agonise over the hot potato tossed to them by a President unwilling to take firm action in the face of murderous horror and the EU performs according to the usual well scripted double standards, riding to the rescue is Vladimir Putin, the protector and saviour of Syrian human rights. His solution to the problem sounds eminently sane and sensible and is being grasped like a life raft for those drowning in their own morass of moral bankruptcy. The Russian offer that Syria give up its enormous stockpile of chemical and biological weapons to some sort of international group which would then neuter or destroy them seems at first glance to be a master stroke. In one swoop the threat of military action is averted, the criminals behind the massacre of thousands go unpunished and with a further injection of arms the Assad regime can continue on its murderous way. Obama can heave a huge sigh of relief and bask in some illusory sense of victory, the EU can continue to turn a blind eye to those European companies supplying the components for manufacturing sarin gas and other such delightful toys, the Russians can look like angels and the world can then refocus its attention on condemning Israel. Normal business can thus be resumed.
There is only one major problem with all this which no doubt will be conveniently overlooked by most of the editorial writers, media commentators and of course politicians. The Syrian regime is expert at hiding its weapons of mass destruction. They have excellent tutors at this game, namely their Iranian patrons.
Do any really believe that the international body tasked with seeking and finding the multitude of hidden caches of gas, chemicals and biological agents, will be successful? Given the example of Iran, what guarantee can one receive that every single site will be discovered and their lethal contents gathered up and destroyed? How long will it take before the search teams give up and declare their mission ended while all the time the Syrians and their allies know that there are plenty of hiding places left for future use?
As the leader of democracy in Washington tries to convince us that he has taught tyrants a lesson and achieved peace in our time, the leaders in Damascus and Teheran will be convulsed by laughter and the Kremlin will be emboldened to launch further expeditions of support for those who imperil freedom worldwide.
This latest version of hide and seek will merely reinforce Israeli convictions that when push comes to shove they can only rely on themselves. If it takes this long to do nothing effective against a regime which uses gas against its own citizens just imagine how long it will take to prevent Iran from carrying out its threats against the Jewish State. We cannot and indeed dare not place our trust in worthless promises which will still be resounding in the corridors of the UN as Iran launches its nuclear tipped rockets in our direction.
Hide and seek has never been more deadly than that now being played out on the world stage.
Michael Kuttner is the Israel correspondent for J-Wire
Love your writing, Michael Kuttner, both for what it says and the frank, succinct way it says it.