Bush Says No Deal to Pakistan

Not that this was a surprise, but this was a surprise. I thought that the President might treat India and Pakistan the way my in-laws treat my wife and sister-in-law. They are close enough in age and have basically the same weaponry, so my in-laws make everything "equal" at Christmas and birthdays. It sort of smoothes things out. To turn the cold side of the pillow to a member of "the club?" While on his soil? I don't know. The NYTimes reports:

ISLAMABAD, March 4 -- President Bush made clear today that Pakistan should not expect anytime soon a civilian nuclear agreement like the one the United States reached only days ago with India, and he bluntly said that the two archrivals on the subcontinent cannot be compared to each other.

Mr. Bush said that he and Pakistan’s president, General Pervez Musharraf, had discussed a civilian nuclear program for Pakistan during talks this morning.

"“I explained that Pakistan and India are different countries with different needs and different histories," Mr. Bush said at a joint outdoor news conference with Mr. Musharraf on the grounds of the presidential palace, Aiwan-e-Sadr. "So as we proceed forward, our strategy will take in effect those well-known differences."

Mr. Bush had never been expected to endorse a nuclear agreement with Pakistan, the country of A.Q Khan, the founder of Pakistan's nuclear program who has confessed to running the largest illegal nuclear proliferation network in history. But it was striking that the president spoke so directly as his host, Mr. Musharraf, stood at his side.

Again, not that this surprised me, but I am surprised.

Open Post Thanks to The Mudville Gazette, The Uncooperative Blogger, Stuck on Stupid, Third World County and Adam's Blog.