India/US Nuclear Agreement

India, being a nuclear power, has now agreed to join the group of nuclear powers who are working toward non-proliferation. India has been very responsible in ensuring that the technology hasn't been given or sold to countries that won't responsibly use it. China hasn't been nearly as responsible. This deal sounds like a move to the right direction.

President Bush today said his landmark nuclear cooperation agreement with India marked a crucial advancement in limiting the spread of nuclear weapons -— ensuring for the first time the presence of international inspectors at civilian nuclear reactors.

But administration officials conceded that the agreement was not everything the U.S. had hoped for -— permitting India to keep eight of its 22 reactors under wraps as secret military sites.

Nothing is ever perfect, but this is a step forward. Remember that India already has a nuclear weapons program and they have no reason to go to full disclosure with that. But, this does move them into inspections by the IAEA for their civilian reactors. In fact, the IAEA has come out in favor of the agreement.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief (IAEA) Mohammed ElBaradei said it would boost non-proliferation efforts.

The UK and France also hailed the deal. But it was criticised by some members of the US Congress, who said it would lead to the spread of nuclear weapons.

But of course the LATimes and many of the MSM are taking the most negative of views.

While Bush and senior administration officials described the agreement in mostly positive terms, it appeared that India emerged the victor.

Robert J. Einhorn, a former State Department expert on nuclear proliferation issues and now a scholar at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the Indians accomplished all their goals: retaining the rights to import uranium and produce plutonium while earning recognition as a nuclear power.

"The Indians should be very proud of their negotiators. They achieved all of their objectives," Einhorn said. "It's not clear what the administration's objectives were, but it's unlikely that they achieved them."

Critics of the deal charged that it would encourage rogue nations, such as Iran, to pursue its weapons program -— emboldened by the U.S. decision to do nuclear business with a country such as India that has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

No big surprise there. Neglect to mention that this will assist in relations between the US and India. No mention of how this will aid in stabilizing the energy markets world-wide. And as expected Ed Markey, that nuclear whiner from Massachusetts.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), co-chairman of a new coalition created to oppose the agreement, said today that lawmakers would refuse to go along. "With one simple move, the president has blown a hole in the nuclear rules that the entire world has been playing by, and broken his own word to assure that we will not ship nuclear technology to India without the proper safeguards," Markey said

Um, Ed? India has the bomb already. What rules are you referring too? India isn't a signatory of the Non-proliferation treaty. This will certainly get them closer to being in step with the other nuclear powers. India already has Uranium and can buy it without anyone's approval at this time. Iran and North Korea are part of the non-proliferation treaty, and they completely ignore those rules. How can this be a bad thing?