Bush's Nuclear Footsie with China
September 6, 2001
George W.'s nuclear policy is bordering on lunacy at this point.
Just look at his latest idea to wink at China if it resumes nuclear testing or builds up its fleet of nuclear weapons capable of hitting the United States. (At the moment, China has about 20.)
Bush is playing a game of nuclear footsie with China apparently in hopes of mollifying Beijing over missile defense.
That's just what we need. More nuclear weapons that can hit U.S. soil!
Two days after The New York Times broke this story, the Administration issued a mealy-mouthed statement denying that it would drop objections to a Chinese nuclear build-up "to overcome China's opposition" to Star Wars, and denying that it would "acquiesce in any resumption of nuclear testing by China."
But it wasn't a very credible crawl back, since senior officials confirmed the gist of the story to the Times even after the statement of clarification.
Bush's indifference to more nuclear weapons in the hands of the Chinese, or more multiple warheads on Russian missiles (as Putin has warned about), is almost baffling.
These are the countries that pose the biggest threats to the United States, not Iraq or North Korea. But the Bush Administration is blas