crosspost: Bush blew up the nuclear levee, a Very Dangerous Deal

[bananas]

Bush blew up the nuclear levee, a Very Dangerous Deal

http://www.newsweek.com/id/177379

Bush’s Very Dangerous Deal
The U.S.-India pact has been hailed as a triumph. It was just the opposite.
By Joseph Cirincione | NEWSWEEK
Published Dec 31, 2008

In 1974, India used a small reactor bought from Canada for civilian research to make plutonium. Its scientists secretly shaped the metal into a bomb and exploded it in what India called "a peaceful nuclear test."

President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger knew they had a problem. They swiftly created a new global structure to make it difficult for any other nation to turn civilian technology into nuclear weapons. And their plan worked. If countries wanted to buy reactors and fuel, they had to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), promising to never build a bomb and to open their nuclear sites to inspection. Some cheated, like North Korea and Iran, but they were caught and branded as outlaws. The vast majority of the 183 signatories without nuclear weapons kept their word.

This fall, President George W. Bush blew up this nuclear levee. The U.S.-India nuclear deal exempts India from the NPT's restrictions and permits it to keep its 50 to 120 nuclear bombs and build more. And the United States will start selling India sensitive nuclear technology.

<snip>

It is hard to overstate what a mistake this was. India has now been granted all the privileges of a recognized nuclear-weapons state but with none of the responsibilities. The other two nuclear-armed nations outside the treaty, Pakistan and Israel, are sure to demand equal treatment; other nations, like Japan, may reconsider their nuclear options. Georgetown University School of Foreign Service dean Robert Gallucci says the deal will "open the door to the true proliferation of nuclear weapons in the years ahead." The danger in South Asia seems especially high.

<snip>

Crossposted from the General Discussion forum: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4753104

[ixion]

1. yet another catastrophuck, brought to you by BushCo, Inc...

"Destroying America for Generations"