Pakistan gets denied.

Its being reported today that Bush spoke bluntly and honestly (I know a rare thing) with Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf in denying a nuclear energy agreement like the one the US struck with India. Bush assured him that Pakistan cannot and should not expect anytime soon a civilian nuclear agreement like the one with India.

In the President's defense Pakistan's nuclear program founder Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan (aka AQ Khan) admitted in January 2004 to having been involved in an international network of clandestine nuclear proliferation from Pakistan to Libya, Iran and North Korea. The largest nuclear arms network in history. A month later he was pardoned by General Pervez Musharraf.

Here is where it gets sticky. By the US granting India such an agreement the US may only encourage other nations to demand similar arrangements. While nothing in this world should be taken for granted we have created a climate of favoritism regardless of the grounds it was founded on. The other problem? Religion. While India has the 3rd largest Muslim population it is 80.5% Hindu where Pakistan is a Muslim country with 98% of its population being Muslim.

That issue will surely be brought up regardless of past evidence that Bush has to justify not sharing technology with Pakistan. There is also the fact that Pakistan has been one of our staunchest allies in this never ending capital consuming war on "terror."

"Part of my mission today was to determine whether or not the president is as committed as he has been in the past to bringing these terrorists to justice, and he is.--He understands the stakes, he understands the responsibility, and he understands the need to make sure our strategy is able to defeat the enemy.--We're not going to back down in the face of these killers. We'll fight this war, and we will win this war together," Bush told the news conference in a garden of Musharraf's compound.

In other news some arms-control experts have found that the India agreement has holes. One in particular is that eight reactors wouldn't be covered by the safeguards and could remain sources of plutonium for nukes. The facilities include several civilian power plants and a fast-breeder reactor that will produce large amounts of plutonium. Experts have also added that safeguards also wouldn't cover existing spent reactor fuel, which contains enough plutonium for more than 1,000 weapons, and a facility for enriching uranium, which also can be used to make nuclear weapons.

Links:
Pakistan debates US relationship BBC News.
Bush Says Pakistan Cannot Expect Nuclear Deal Like India’s by Ny Times