Trust, Don't Verify

The United States, in a stunning shift of policy, now opposes the inspection and verification provisions of a proposed new treaty designed to restrict production of weapons-grade uranium and plutonium. This has received very little attention in the press, even as the Deserter incredibly professes to be protecting America from the threat of nuclear proliferation. Condi Rice, with an apparent lack of concern for her dwindling credibility, reiterated the Administration's commitment to nuclear non-proliferation this morning on Meet The Press, and Little Russ didn't even ask her about this outrageous and inexplicable shift in policy. Advice for Little Russ: WAKE UP!

The New York Times, in an August 6th editorial entitled "Washington's Gift to Bomb Makers", properly notes the utter lack of justification for U.S. opposition to the inspection and verification provisions:

The Bush administration argues, unpersuasively, that such inspections might interfere with making fuel for American nuclear submarines and might allow foreign inspectors to glimpse secret American nuclear technology. To the extent that these are legitimate concerns, it would be better to try to persuade other nations to grant narrowly tailored exemptions instead of eliminating inspections. Washington also claims that an enforceable treaty would generate a false sense of security and that it would be easier to get other countries to sign an unenforceable one. Those are generic arguments that can be deployed against any enforceable arms control treaty. They ignore the enormous positive trade-offs of a verifiable fissile materials treaty, like strict limits on the material available for making nuclear weapons.

We've gone from "trust, but verify", Reagan's memorable admonition, to "trust - don't bother to verify."

While Korea and Iran continue to develop their nuclear programs, the Administration is working to undermine nuclear non-proliferation efforts. While the international community continues to implore India, Pakistan and Israel to permit oversight of their nuclear weapons programs, the Administration works to effectively kill an international treaty that would have required inspections of weapons-grade uranium and plutonium production in those countries.

It is apparent that the new U.S. policy, as yet unstated by the Deserter's Administration, is to permit the unabated proliferation of nuclear weapons around the world, and to respond militarily when this foolish policy inevitably leads to a potential nuclear crisis.

Why?