quote:

Bush Signs India Nuke Deal President Bush has signed legislation to lift a three-decade ban on nuclear trade with India. The deal will allow India to expand its nuclear power industry without requiring it to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty as other nations must. quote: President Bush: “The bill I sign today approves the 123 Agreement I submitted to Congress and establishes the legal framework for that agreement to come into effect. The bill makes clear that our agreement with India is consistent with the Atomic Energy Act and other elements of US law. By passing this legislation, my administration and Congress demonstrate our common view that nuclear cooperation is in the interests of both the United States and India." Critics say say the agreement encourages nuclear production worldwide, because it effectively rewards India for developing nukes outside the treaty.

Source: Democracy Now

Yeah, but let's go to war with Iran over a suspected (you know, kind of like those WMDs) nuclear weapons program.

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"The Greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." -Stephen Hawking
"First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me— and there was no one left to speak out for me." -Martin Niemöller

huh. there have been suggestions that australia should lift its embargo against selling uranium to india. looks like money wins over principles *shock horror*

quote:

Critics say say the agreement encourages nuclear production worldwide, because it effectively rewards India for developing nukes outside the treaty.

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quote:

Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN looks like money wins over principles *shock horror*

In America, that is sadly the case now... could have always been, since generally speaking we're conditioned to believe that the value assumptions of what today is called 'capitalism' are somehow benevolent in nature. I think that 'invisible hand' actually has nothing to do with the market place and is probably doing something more naughty.

___________________
"The Greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." -Stephen Hawking
"First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me— and there was no one left to speak out for me." -Martin Niemöller

all the world is asking of Iran is transparency. thats it.

if they refuse to give the world at least that, then f**k'em, they'll remain in the shadows. they'll remain as what most people assume they are to be because they give the world no other choice to assume otherwise regardless of their ridiculous and incessant doomsday sermonizing

...and India with it's 1 billion odd population can get on with supplying it's people with the benefits of an immediate 21st century energy supply. yay India

Last edited by Q5echo on Oct-13-2008 at 02:32

Although I think I disagree with this (it's a tough issue), people need to learn the difference between enriching uranium and peaceful use of uranium.

To build a nuclear bomb, you need highly enriched uranium. To learn how to do that is a really complicated process, but once you learn how to enrich uranium good enough, it is a piece of a cake to build a nuclear bomb (we learnt how to do that in physics class a couple of weeks ago...). Any decent engineer could make one, given enriched enough uran.

So in this deal, as far as I understand it, NPT countries will be able to sell already enriched uranium (which is only enriched enough to make use of it in a power plant, and would not help at all for making a nuclear bomb) to India. It would also place all of India's peaceful nuclear facilities under IAEA inspection.

Meanwhile, Iran is trying to learn how to enrich uranium (their centrifuges are designed in a way that is not necessarily for a peaceful purpose). So basically, once they got the enriching part right, they will have the bomb in no time. So while no one denies Iran the "right" to peaceful nuclear power, the issue is totally different there. Also Iran has been offered a similar deal to that of India (and ever more generous), but refused to accept for reasons that are obvious (they want the bomb).