What's Got India?
[posted by Callimachus]
One of the real bright spots in George W. Bush's tenure has been the nuclear pact the White House negotiated with India. Forging a strong military alliance with India is America's best strategic bet for the next 50 years -- so close to a no-brainer it's almost difficult to give Bush credit for doing the obvious right thing.
But, as with Nixon's China overture, sometimes a president does get treated like a genius for doing the no-brainer, if he does it with enough flair and secretive mumbo-jumbo. Which of course Bush doesn't.
And of course there are those who hold that "If Bush does it, it must be wrong," and a lot of those seem to have voted in the election this month.
So I am concerned about the India pact, which still must be ratified by the Senate, either in the lame duck session or in the new blue session next year.
This article seems to regard it as a safe bet in either session:
But Biden has hedged and waffled on the pact earlier this year. And Sam Nunn -- a statesman emeritus of the new legislative majority -- has said he has serious concerns about it and urges Congress to set conditions on it that could scuttle it.
So, let's just keep an eye on this one, shall we? For the sake of the next 50 years.
[For the 50 past that? Start in sub-Saharan Africa. Bill Gates' charity work there may look in 100 years like his true stroke of genius]
One of the real bright spots in George W. Bush's tenure has been the nuclear pact the White House negotiated with India. Forging a strong military alliance with India is America's best strategic bet for the next 50 years -- so close to a no-brainer it's almost difficult to give Bush credit for doing the obvious right thing.
But, as with Nixon's China overture, sometimes a president does get treated like a genius for doing the no-brainer, if he does it with enough flair and secretive mumbo-jumbo. Which of course Bush doesn't.
And of course there are those who hold that "If Bush does it, it must be wrong," and a lot of those seem to have voted in the election this month.
So I am concerned about the India pact, which still must be ratified by the Senate, either in the lame duck session or in the new blue session next year.
This article seems to regard it as a safe bet in either session:
The pact is not expected to be affected by the Democrats' midterm election victory in which they took control of Congress. On Thursday, Democratic leaders in the Senate, including Sen. Joseph Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate foreign relations panel, said they were ready to move ahead with the India bill.
But Biden has hedged and waffled on the pact earlier this year. And Sam Nunn -- a statesman emeritus of the new legislative majority -- has said he has serious concerns about it and urges Congress to set conditions on it that could scuttle it.
So, let's just keep an eye on this one, shall we? For the sake of the next 50 years.
[For the 50 past that? Start in sub-Saharan Africa. Bill Gates' charity work there may look in 100 years like his true stroke of genius]
