If you are feeling anxious - and you should be - about the world’s appetite for nuclear weapons, there is a bit of good news. More countries than we ever expected are refusing to be pressured by the United States and India to approve an illconceived nuclear deal.
For 30 years, ever since India used its civilian nuclear program to produce a bomb, the world has been banned from selling nuclear technology to India. Three years ago, President Bush agreed, with far too few conditions, to break that ban and sell India reactors and fuel.
The White House argued that India is an important democracy and shrugged off critics who said breaking the rules would make it even harder to pressure Iran and others to abandon their nuclear ambitions.
The administration - and India’s highpaid lobbyists - persuaded Congress to give preliminary approval to the deal. But before it can go forward, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which sets rules for nuclear trade, must also agree. At a meeting this month, more than 20 governments delayed approval, raising serious questions and insisting on sound conditions. We hope this admirable band - led by New Zealand, Ireland, Austria, Norway, the Netherlands and Switzerland - continues to stand firm .
Mr. Bush and his team were so eager for a foreign policy success that they gave away the store. They extracted no promise from India to stop producing bomb-making material. No promise not to expand its arsenal. And no promise not to resume nuclear testing.
When Congress gave its approval it wrote in many of the same conditions that New Zealand and others are insisting on. That has not stopped the administration from insisting on more generosity from the suppliers’ group. If it gets its way, India could end up buying technology from Russia, France and other less exacting sellers while bypassing the United States. Add that to the list of what is deeply wrong with this deal.