Bush in India: Leaders Agree on Civilian Nuclear Cooperation

Bush is currently in India where his approval rating was a stunning 70% in May, 2005! He might want to think about moving there sometime soon. He and Indian Prime Minister Singh have announced cooperation on the nuclear front which is seen by some as suspect, to say the least:

Bush wants to share U.S. nuclear know-how and fuel with India to help power its fast-growing economy, even though India won't sign the international nonproliferation treaty.

Some lawmakers in Washington contend that the Bush administration is making a side deal to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Critics in India, meanwhile, are wary that the United States is meddling in Indian affairs, and is using India as a counterweight to China's growing economic and political influence.

If reached, the landmark accord would represent a major shift in policy for the United States, which imposed temporary sanctions on India in 1998 after it conducted nuclear tests.

So, here's the score: Iran-no nukes; N Korea- who knows?; India-lots of nukes (even though they won't sign the damn treaty)

During the press conference announcing the deal, Bush seemed incredibly uncomfortable - having to field questions from those who hadn't taken an oath to love and obey him. He actually said, at the end as he was walking away: "quit asking me such tough questions".

When asked by one reporter about the fact that India considers Pakistan as the "epicenter of terrorism" (since Bush is headed there after this visit and there was a terrorist attack there earlier in the day), Bush responded almost exactly like this:

ummm...intelligence...umm...people hide and plot and kill...and...umm..intelligence agencies sharing information...ummm...share information with Musharraf...ummm...[hey] there's terrorism in the Middle East as well...

Asked about how he intends to deal with those in congress opposed to this deal, he pretty much said:

"our relationship is changing to the better"...short term shows that the US and India were divided...now the relationship is changing dramatically...all of this Indian stuff is "in our interest" (repeat 3 times)...ummm...student exchanges...yeah...ummm..."changing relationship"...yeah..."good faith gesture from the Indian government" that they won't...umm...fossil fuels:bad...ummm...reprocessing stuff:good...umm...terrorism, terrorism, terrorism...

And, there you have it. Live from the desk of liberal catnip's news network (lcnn).