Giving Away the Farm: Bush Caves to India on Nuke Deal

[ProSense]

Rep. Ed Markey

03.03.2006

Giving Away the Farm: Bush Caves to India on Nuke Deal

"This is Santa Claus negotiating. The goal seems to have been to give away as much as possible."-http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/03/politics/03nuke.htm">George Perkovich, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

With one simple move yesterday, the President blew a hole in the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Non-Proliferation_Treaty">nuclear rules that the entire world has been playing by for over a generation.

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Today, the President gave a speech in New Delhi defending his complete capitulation to the Indian Government's demands for a special exemption from U.S. and international nuclear nonproliferation law. Sadly, it was


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The President argued that the India nuclear deal will strengthen the security and the economies of both nations.

He is wrong. We do not need to grant India special exemptions from nuclear nonproliferation rules in order to have a strong security relationship with India and assist India in further developing and expanding its economy. India already has a strong geopolitical basis for developing close bilateral ties with the United States. Both countries are democracies, both already are major markets for one another's goods and services, and both share common security interests.



The President also argued that the India nuclear deal will reduce the risk of proliferation.

He is wrong. By caving in to the Indian demand that they be allowed access to advanced nuclear technology without having to accept full-scope international safeguards, the President has blown a giant hole through the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. We cannot expect countries like Iran and North Korea to comply with the rules when we help India break them. If we adopt special rules for our friends, we can expect Russia and China to adopt special rules for their friends. "Bilateral Special Exemptions" will replace the standards of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and a nuclear chaos of no rules at all will be the end result.


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