On Oct. 29, Egypt’s president, Hosni Mubarak, announced the country’s plan to build several nuclear power plants. This plan was immediately embraced by Egypt’s strongest ally and financial backer—the United States.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that the United States would not object to Egypt’s program as long as it adhered to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and International Atomic Energy Agency guidelines. The NPT aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to foster the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of disarmament.
No timetable was set for the opening of the nuclear plants in Egypt. Hassan Yunis, the country’s minister of electricity and energy, said that Egypt can have an operational plant within 10 years.
Washington’s embrace of Egypt’s plan is more than a bit hypocritical. The U.S. government is currently sanctioning Iran and threatening “World War III” because of its plan to develop nuclear energy technology.
Mubarak has said that there were strategic reasons for the program, calling secure sources of energy “an integral part of Egypt’s national security system.” He assured that the plan was a peaceful plan.
Iran has made similar public assurances with very dissimilar results.
What’s the difference between Egypt and Iran in the eyes of U.S. imperialism?
Iran is seeking to develop its nuclear energy capacity without subverting its sovereignty. Egypt, on the other hand, is a U.S. client regime.
Other countries in the Middle East also are contemplating the development of nuclear technology, including Jordan, Turkey, Yemen, Algeria and Morocco. The capitalist media has said that these moves could lead to a more “volatile” Middle East.
But the real root of regional “volatility” is clear.
The United States is the only country in the history of the world to use a nuclear bomb. It is currently occupying Iraq and Afghanistan. Israel, Washington’s regional watchdog, has hundreds of nuclear bombs. Iran’s neighbor Pakistan is also a nuclear power.
The only countries that the U.S. government forbids from acquiring nuclear technology are countries like Iran that wish to remain independent of imperialist domination. Egypt’s subservience to imperialism gives it a free pass.
