[politics] These games you playThey’re gonna end in more than tears someday

I don't get it... On the one hand, we tell India that they are free to build all the nukes they want; on the other hand, we tell Pakistan... eh, not so much. How's that going to look to the Iranians? I mean, India's had nukes since the 1970s, so this is in many ways just a pro forma gesture; on the other hand, India, like Pakistan, North Korea, Iran, has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, so this is what is so glibly described as 'rewarding bad behavior' (as if being able to vaporize Lahore is only worthy of a 'time-out'); on the gripping hand, India has proven itself to be a stable country as well as a non-proliferator. On yet another hand, India and Pakistan have pushed things to the brink of nuclear war, what? Twice? Three times? And on still another hand, I distinctly remember rumors in the 1980s of an Israeli/Indian/South African research exchange, so while India surely isn't in North Korea's league when it comes to sharing nuclear tech, I don't think they're quite as pure on the non-proliferation front as we would currently paint them out to be. Just to keep the hands balanced, as the symmetry of Hindu avatars demands, India is the most populous democracy in the world, and is an increasingly important power... Finally emerging from the shadow of the Raj, India is taking steps towards global leadership, while Pakistan is still mired in military dictatorship. This is probably the most constructive way to engage with India at this time. But I still can't help but think that the take-home message to the Iranians is that we'll support nuclear states - as long as they aren't Islamic states. And that doesn't bode well for the future stability of the broader Persian Gulf/South Asian region.

It's eight fifteen And that's the time that it's always been We got your message on the radio Conditions normal and you're coming home

[lyrics from OMD's Enola Gay]