Remember: This Idiot Has The Launch Codes

Whenever they let him out of his pen, George W Bush never fails to provide a plethora of really juicy stuff to pick at. This latest trip through South Asia is giving us another reminder that this guy is a boob. While preparing for his visit to Pakistan he said this:

“I believe that a prosperous, democratic Pakistan will be a steadfast partner for America, a peaceful neighbor for India and a force for freedom and moderation in the Arab world.”

Brilliant. The Arabs will be happy to know that Pakistan will become a beacon of light in a world to which they don't belong. Oh well. To Bush, they're all just little brown people who all wear funny hats.

Let's call that the funny part.

This is the part that can only be described as dangerous.

A landmark nuclear cooperation deal with India announced by President Bush on Thursday cements a major shift in U.S. policy, giving the South Asian giant access to American technology even though some of its reactors would remain off-limits to international inspectors.

It reverses a moratorium against nuclear cooperation with a nation that has not signed the 1970 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty aimed at halting the spread of nuclear weapons globally.

This is in direct violation of international and American law. The US Congress has the right and the ability to overturn this agreement and they need to put the blocks to it right away. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty has been responsible, in part at least, for preventing a nuclear holocaust. What will Congress do? Probably nothing.

It is a stretch of the imagination that Bush would even suggest such a treaty with India without first receiving at least tacit approval from Republican leaders in Congress.

Pakistan, who will get no such treatment, having already violated the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, will feel compelled to advance their own nuclear weapons program in order to maintain parity with India.

Europe, which is making efforts to curb nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea, will be reeling from this. Both of those countries can now thumb their noses at Europe by pointing at a direct treaty violation by Bush.

Of course, there is the strategic angle. A massively nuclear-armed India provides a strategic power-check on China. China has been stretching its military reach into the Arabian Sea and has been getting chummy with Pakistan, a relationship which includes the construction of a deep water naval port in Gwadar Pakistan.

Bush's announcement serves to feed an accelerated nuclear arms race between two client-states which will continue to restrict international oversight of their nuclear programs.

Bush argues that India's economy needs nuclear energy to allow its trade with the US to expand without becoming an even larger consumer of oil. While that position may have some merit, there should have been no agreement without full and unrestricted inspection of every reactor in India.

This agreement simply provides India with the means to expand its nuclear weapons industry.

Bush is a dangerous boob. And there's more. India didn't get this nuclear deal without a big payout. Stay tuned.

(Hat tip to Canadian Cynic)