It’s official:
President Bush signed into law a nuclear deal with India today, reversing decades of U.S. policy by creating an India-only exemption that allows New Delhi to receive U.S. civilian nuclear technology even though it hasn’t signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
This is terrible news for the international community. Somehow we have decided to set aside thirty years of a nuclear non-proliferation stance and allow New Delhi to be the “exception”. Well, exceptions won’t stand in today’s world–they become excuses and precedent for nations like North Korea and Iran to develop their own programs. And who are we to point fingers at Pyongyang while we cuddle up to India?
Don’t be surprised if the six-nation talks hit the wall this week. And this time we can’t blame Kim Jong-Il’s irrationality. We have only ourselves to blame.
The truth of the matter is that this decision was purely strategic: India is our democratic friend, conveniently wedged between Communist superpower China and Fundamentalist Iran (and soon to be Pakistan?). The hypocrisy is overt, but somehow tragically justified. It seems that in today’s world, maintaining superpower status means bending the rules every so often. But then again, isn’t that always how it’s been?
