US, Israel Real Threats to Middle East Peace

President Obama isn't the only one worried about the drumbeat toward war with Iran. So is MIT professor Noam Chomsky, who argues that Iran's pursuit of nuclear power—and perhaps weapons—is a defensive posture against the region's two main aggressors, the US and Israel. "Concerns about 'the imminent threat' of Iran are often attributed to the 'international community'—code language for US allies," writes Chomsky on ZNet. "The people of the world, however, tend to see matters rather differently. "

Chomsky notes that most in the Arab world would be OK with Iran having nuclear weapons, in order to increase regional security. Europeans regard Israel as "the greatest threat to world peace," while China, Russia, and India oppose US policy on Iran. What Chomsky supports is the little-discussed 1974 UN resolution for a WMD-free zone across the Middle East, including Israel. "With all the furor about Iran, however, there is scant attention to that option, which would be the most constructive way of dealing with the nuclear threats in the region." (More Noam Chomsky stories.)