Nuclear gun control

I have been sick for a while, so there was little or no activity on these pages. But now I feel better. Well enough in fact to get concerned about things again.

A few weeks ago, George Bush, on his visit to India, announced an accord between the USA and India. The US will supply India with nuclear technology. In return, India will allow international inspectors to visit two thirds of their installations. India, you will remember, has never signed the non-proliferation treaty. It has conducted several muclear tests and it is widely believed that it has about 5 operational nuclear weapons.

The technology that the USA is selling to India is aimed at civil use, however, it can easily be used to create fission material (plutonium) for high grade nuclear weapons. India has the world's largest reserves of thorium, so they already have the raw ingredients.

What kind of message does the Bush administration think it is sending? On the one hand, they are castigating Iran for their efforts to attain nuclear technology. While the Iranians say they only want this technology for civil use, the Indians are quite open about wanting to further develop their military nuclear program. And what would Pakistan think about the actions of thier "ally" in the fight against terrorism? Or North-Korea? Or what about China, who will have a much more effective nuclear threat at its Southern border?

In effect what this decision to hand India the technology it so desparately wants achieves is more guns on the playground. Some nuts claim that guns do not kill people, only people. However, when it comes to nuclear weapons, we tend to think differently and are extremely concerned when a kid on the playground announces he now has access to a gun (let alone use it). And rightly so. For this reason, we have the non-proliferation treaty: every country that has access to this technology promises it won't use it militarily and opens up its instatllations for international inspections. And while this is not perfect, it severely hindered efforts of 'rogue' states to acquire the necessary technology and fission materials.

The Bush administration, with one single decision, has effectively killed the non-proliferation treaty and made the world a less safe place. Never mind that they adopt double standards, never mind that their assessment of the role of India in the region's military balance is not exactly realistic.What really gets me about all this is that the Bush administration has once again given up on an international treaty (the non-proliferation treaty) for short-term political gain. The lack of vision is astonishing -- and extremely dangerous.