What Is Former President Jimmy Carter Thinking?

Over the Memorial Weekend, news reports had former President Jimmy Carter saying that Israel has 150 nuclear weapons.

From the Times Online:

Israel has 150 nuclear weapons in its arsenal, former President Jimmy Carter said yesterday, while arguing that the US should talk directly to Iran to persuade it to drop its nuclear ambitions.

His remark, made at the Hay-on-Wye festival which promotes current affairs books and literature, is startling because Israel has never admitted having nuclear weapons, let alone how many, although the world assumes their existence. Nor do US officials deviate in public from that Israeli line. Carter, who has immersed himself since his presidency in Israeli-Palestinian relations, was highly critical of Israeli settlers on the West Bank, and of Israel's refusal to talk to elected officials of the Islamic party Hamas, although he said that Israel's security was his prime concern.

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My Comment: In a region where we are just one step away from nuclear proliferation, this is the worst thing to say. His remarks are now going to be on a top of a list of reasons that the rulers of Iran, Syria .... (maybe Egypt and Saudi Arabia) will use on why they should obtain this same weapon capability.

Therefore, it is no surprise to read the following from the IAEA: Iran is withholding information