All three countries have stockpiles of nuclear weapons and other WMD according to the experts. None of them participate in the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. The United States, Britain, France, Russia, China are all involved in the treaty, and yes, so is Iran. The administration talks almost daily about the dangers of the proliferation of these WMD to other countries and parties, yet we have no foreign policy to put pressure on these 3 countries to join the treaty and open up their nuclear plants to inspection. Has any one heard Mr. Bush, or for that matter any Republican, talk about this issue?
Now we have Pakistan being declared in a state of emergency by President Pervez Musharraf. He is still chief of staff of the Army and the Army is in charge of maintaining the order. Finally after 6 years and $10 billion for Pakistan the administration is asking Mr. Musharraf to give up his Army role. The country is in turmoil and the Pakistani Army and Pakistani intelligence are in charge of protecting and preserving their nuclear stockpile. Members of this administration and others say they believe the weapons are safe. But suppose the Army splits and tries to overthrow their President, then how safe would those stockpiles be? Remember, Mr. Musharraf himself came into power with a coup.
Adding to the mixture is former prime minister Benazir Bhutto back in Pakistan from exile. The administration seems to favor her sharing power with Musharraf. He does not seem to take to kind to that approach and just recently had her under house arrest. The Shah of Iran was put in power by the United States and everyone knows what happened to that country down the road.
It is past time for the U.S. and other governments to put pressure on Israel, Pakistan, and India to join the non-proliferation treaty and open up their facilities for inspection. Is that too much to ask for in this dangerous world? I think not. All three countries are in a part of the world that is unstable and is prone to radical ideas. That's reason enough in my estimation.
