Less than a year ago John Kerry declared that if elected president, his first priority would be preventing nuclear weapons proliferation.
George Bush immediately rejoined that preventing the proliferation of “weapons of mass destruction” was high on his priority list, too, and cited his Proliferation Security Initiative of 2003 as proof.
Too?
Did you hear Kerry declare that his first priority as president would be preventing the proliferation of – as "weapons of mass destruction" is defined in Bush’s PSI – "chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons and associated delivery systems" and "related materials"?
And, to be specific, preventing the proliferation of what the UN Special Commission on Iraq referred to as "Biowarfare Agent D" – also known as "wheat smut"?
["Wheat smut" is a fungus that attacks wheat plants, reducing crop yield per acre and imparting to the wheat a foul, fishy odor.]
Of course not! When Kerry said "nuclear weapons" he meant nukes, not "wheat smut." Or phosphorus pentasulfide.
Yet, the year before, acting pursuant to Bush’s PSI, Taiwanese government officials detained the North Korean cargo vessel Be Gaehung, boarded it and confiscated 158 barrels of phosphorus pentasulfide.
Why?
Because Bush had "slam-dunk" intelligence that phosphorus pentasulfide could be used in the manufacture of "rocket fuel."
Now, the Seventh Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons ended last week.
In fact, it never really got started. Because Bush’s representatives wouldn’t allow the Final Report of the Sixth RevCon of 2000 to even be discussed, much less endorsed and used as the basis for further strenghtening of the NPT’s capabilities to a) prevent nuke proliferation, (b) enhance cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and (c) advance nuclear disarmament.
Why?
Well, Bush doesn’t want to disarm.
Nor does Bush want enhanced nuclear energy cooperation between Russia and Iran.
Furthermore, Bush wants to decide, himself, who is "proliferating."
But, among other things, the Sixth Conference re-affirmed that the International Atomic Energy Agency "is the competent authority responsible for verifying and assuring … compliance with its safeguards agreements … It is the conviction of the Conference that nothing should be done to undermine the authority of the IAEA in this regard.”
You see, even before Bush became President, the IAEA had been an obstacle to implementation of the "regime change" plans of the neo-crazies.
In particular, on the eve of the Clinton-Albright pre-emptive attack on Iraq in 1998 to "disarm" Saddam Hussein, if there was any country on the planet that was certifiably "nuke-free," it was Iraq. Ditto, on the eve of the Bush-Blair preemptive attack on Iraq in 2003.
And, now, on the eve of what increasingly appears to be an impending Bush-Sharon pre-emptive attack on Iran, if there is any country on the planet that is certifiably "nuke-free," it is Iran.
Hence, the Bush-Bolton delegates to the Seventh NPT RevCon, just concluded, repeatedly challenged the competence of the IAEA and the credibility of IAEA verifications and certifications. They even questioned the usefulness of a Treaty that was dependent on the IAEA to verify compliance with its own Safeguards regime.
The Bush-Boltonites urged the NPT Conferees to write-off the NPT as being worse than ineffective. They charged the NPT was actually counter-productive, having loopholes whereby non-nuke signatories could acquire the capability to make nukes, all the while claiming to pursue nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
In particular, Bush-Boltonite Rademaker told the Conferees – despite reports by the IAEA that there is no evidence whatsoever that Iran now has, ever had, or intends to have a nuclear weapons program – that
“For almost two decades, Iran has conducted a clandestine nuclear weapons program, aided by the illicit network of A. Q. Khan.
“Britain, France, and Germany, with our support, are seeking to reach a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear problem, a solution that given the history of clandestine nuclear weapons work in that country, must include permanent cessation of Iran’s enrichment and reprocessing efforts, as well as dismantlement of equipment and facilities related to such activity.”
So Bush has unilaterally decided that Iran has a nuke program and must, therefore, give up its "inalienable right" under the NPT to enjoy all the benefits of nuclear energy.
Bush urged all NPT parties to take “strong action” to confront the “threat of noncompliance” with the NPT.
In other words, sign-up with the Bush-Bolton vigilantes and implement the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Wheat Smut, Rocket Fuel, and Things That Go "Bump" in the Night.
