Perspectives

"Within a few short years, this balance is liable to change dramatically. As early as 2004, Iran will apparently reach a "point of no return": that phase in its nuclear weapons development wherein it is no longer dependent on the external supply of technology and can construct a bomb using its own resources."

"Washington wants to use India as a counterweight to China, which it sees as its main competitor in Asia. It also wants to establish military bases in India. This became apparent recently from a 153-page Pentagon report, "Indo-US Military Relationship: Expectations and Perceptions", prepared by analyst Juli A Macdonald for US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld."

"Israeli conventional and unconventional arms superiority in the Middle East will trigger a new phase in the regional arms race. Many Arab states will feel forced to pursue non-conventional mass destruction capabilities, such as chemical and biological weapons, to try to adjust the imbalance of power in the region."

"It seems that before cloning can go any further, the global community should rein in this enterprise if not to consider the ethical implications involved but more importantly to protect the subjects of its experimentation."

"More disturbing was the news of US mimicking the 36 year old Israeli occupation in tactics. We only hope that the US and/or its puppet Iraqi government will not be managing Iraq for 36 years."

"It is time for the whole world--not just the United States--to start imagining what a nuclearized Middle East will look like. Could western diplomacy keep such a region from going over the edge?"

"Nablus’ residents largely put the responsibility for implementing the law and restoring public order on the Palestinian Authority, which, however, doesn’t yet seem capable of doing so. What most fear is that the phenomenon will spread and more and more people will be forced to take the law into their own hands."

"The road to confidence in international relations is a two-way street. If western countries and their allies consider Iran a potential threat to their interests (which, of course, would be gravely mistaken), Iran, reciprocally, considers some western countries and their allies, as a result of their behavior, potential threats to Iran's security and national sovereignty."