Nukes For Me, But Not For Thee

According to the New York Times, Bush now believes that certain countries should be forbidden from having any nuclear technology, regardless of peaceful intentions. The NYT calls it a "reinterpretation" of the nonproliferation treaty. In fact, it's a total abandonment of the treaty's key parts.

It's hard to state exactly how arrogant and stupid this is. For 30 years, the Non-proliferation treaty has divided the world in to two camps: the 5 official nuclear powers and everyone else. Eveyone else is supposed to have the right to peaceful nuclear power, but no nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, the big 5 were supposed to make "good-faith" efforts to reduce their own arsenals, with total disarmament the stated ultimate goal.

Obviously, the Bush administration has continued US policy regarding disarmament - essentially, no possibility of disarmament by the US. However, I think this new wrinkle is going to prove much more unpopular, especially in the middle east. For Bush to come out and say that a nation like Israel can have nuclear weapons but that Iran can't even build a peaceful nuclear program is going to make things even more tense. On top of the specific regional issues, you have the immediate and obvious arrogance of a US government that thinks it can dictate to an unwilling world. This is just another brick in the wall, so to speak, that Bush and his people are building between the US and the world.