> Ahem, Ulhas :o) Which country was the first to acquire a nuke on the
> Indian subcontinent?
India carried out the first nuclear test in 1974. I have not compared the US nukes related policies towards India and Pakistan. I have compared the US policies towards Iraq and Pakistan. There is also the question of Israeli nukes. I don't claim that India's foreign and defense policies are based on some ethical principles, while the US policies are not.
>Much heavier sanctions were placed on Pakistan than
> on India -- in large part because there wasn't much the US could withhold
> from a country that wasn't an ally and didn't get much in the way of US
> aid or weapons and had a pretty self-sufficent economy.
As far as I know, sanctions imposed on India and Pakistan after 1998 tests were identical. Indian decision to develop nukes was taken in response Chinese nuclear test in 1964. India first sought security guarantees from the US and the fSU regarding Chinese nukes but they were not available.
> Iraq on the other hand was prevented from getting WMDs by the Gulf War and
> the supersanctions that came after it -- but that war came about for
> entirely different reasons -- and, from the viewpoint of proliferation,
> entirely chance reasons. If it hadn't been for that war -- and for the
> Israelis bombing Osirak -- Iraq might well have acquired a bomb. And when
> it came to leniency on WMDs during the 80s, we were much more lenient
> towards Iraq than Pakistan.
Surely Iraqis have been harshly dealt with while Israel and Pakistan have got away with their nukes?
> I'm not disputing any of your implicit value judgments. I just think we
> have to keep the historical record straight for future reference. This
> wasn't a matter of differing policies.
Surely the US has differing policy towards Israeli nukes and Arabs?
> This was a matter of policy
> failure, the limits of policy, and gratutitous accident.
US and other four nuclear powers were committed to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons under the NPT. They were also committed to take measures to stop nuclear arms race and to achieve nuclear disarmament under the NPT. They have not fulfilled their obligations under the NPT. NPT was used to preserve their monopoly over nuclear weapons.
> Similarly, as for Pakistani proliferation to other countries, that was not
> a matter of policy, that was a matter of extreme policy failure. The US
> was deadset against precisely those countries getting anything connected
> with nuclear weapons exactly during the period they got some.
What caused this extreme policy failure, Michael?
Ulhas