A Compelling Story

Former President Jimmy Carter wrote on Wednesday in The Washington Post: "The proposed nuclear deal with India is just one more step in opening a Pandora's box of nuclear proliferation. . . .

"The five original nuclear powers have all stopped producing fissile material for weapons, and India should make the same pledge to cap its stockpile of nuclear bomb ingredients. Instead, the proposal for India would allow enough fissile material for as many as 50 weapons a year, far exceeding what is believed to be its current capacity."

Glenn Kessler wrote in The Washington Post two weeks ago: "In a setback for the administration's efforts to win approval of a landmark nuclear pact with India, former senator Sam Nunn said yesterday that he has serious concerns the deal would harm the 'United States' vital interest' in preventing nuclear proliferation and urged Congress to set conditions for its support."

Nunn "said he is concerned it would lead to the spread of weapons-grade nuclear material, unleash a regional arms race with China and Pakistan, and make it more difficult for the United States to win support for sanctions against nuclear renegades such as Iran and North Korea."

Also see my March 3 column, Did Bush Blink?

Who Knew?

Guy Dinmore writes in the Financial Times: "In choosing Freedom House as the venue for a foreign policy address this week, President George W. Bush has stepped into an intense debate among democracy activists in the US and Iran on how US dollars should be used to carry out the administration's policy of promoting freedom in the Islamic republic.

"Few in the Washington audience on Wednesday realised that Freedom House, an independent institution founded more than 60 years ago by Eleanor Roosevelt, the former first lady, is one of several organisations selected by the State Department to receive funding for clandestine activities inside Iran."

Reconciliation Watch

Rep. Henry A. Waxman and other Democratic members of the House Government Reform Committee yesterday introduced a "Resolution of Inquiry directing the President to submit to Congress all documents relating to the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which the President signed on February 8. The version the President signed was different in substance from the version the House of Representatives passed on February 1, 2006."

Going Public

Agence France Presse reports: "The White House has condemned China in a rare public statement over the treatment of a North Korean asylum seeker.

" 'The United States is gravely concerned about China's treatment of Kim Chun-Hee,' said the statement which called on the Beijing government not to forcibly return North Koreans to the Stalinist state without first giving the UN High Commissioner for Refugees access to them."

Card the Happy Martyr

Ryan Lizza writes for the New Republic (subscription required) that Tuesday may have been the happiest day of White House Chief of Staff Andy Card's life.

"For more than five years, he has worn blame as a badge of honor and elevated self-flagellation to the highest virtue of presidential service. He has long tried to convince White House observers that all of Bush's problems are his fault alone. By accepting his resignation, Bush finally agreed. . . .