Nuclear Club

I applaud Jacob Heilbrunn for voicing dissent with his editorial board ("Bush is facing reality on India," editorial, July 28). He is right that New Delhi is being accused of subverting the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, which it was never a part of. On the contrary, the five declared nuclear powers, which also happen to be members of the U.N. Security Council, have not fulfilled a key provision of the treaty -- declaring a timetable for achieving full...

One man's legacy Re "Paying homage to a Holocaust survivor's firm grip on life," Column, Jan. 4 I've read Kurt Streeter's column on Warsaw ghetto uprising survivor Leon Weinstein several times; with each read, its impact becomes more profound. Having married the daughter of Holocaust survivors, I've come to learn from a firsthand perspective that Weinstein's story mirrors that of so many others I've heard. As tragic as these memories are, they are nevertheless exceeded by the unimaginable courage of those who survived and went on to build new lives.

Re "What's next on Iran?" editorial, Sept. 1 If the international community were really serious about nuclear nonproliferation, why not get hard-nosed with those minor powers that already have weapons of mass destruction? Like, say, Pakistan, or India, or Israel? There's the rub. Having allowed (or even helped) others to join the nuclear club, the U.S. and other wannabe big brothers have nothing to show for their feckless efforts. There is virtually no reason for Iran not to try to join.

Iran's announcement last month that it will begin enriching uranium for use in a medical reactor sparked a rare bipartisan consensus in Washington. Politicians on both sides of the aisle treated the news as the latest evidence we are moving closer to a nuclear crisis. There is cause for concern, with Iran unwilling to bend to global pressure, terrorists eager to acquire an atomic device, an erratic North Korea threatening stability in East Asia and an international nuclear nonproliferation regime that appears to be getting weaker by the minute.

The attempt by the Sept. 16 editorial, "Testing Our 'Ally,' Pakistan," to link Pakistan with the recent explosion in North Korea is untenable. Similarly, the assertion that Pakistan is not extending cooperation to the International Atomic Energy Agency is also without basis. Pakistan is not under any investigation. It is voluntarily cooperating with the IAEA in investigations related to transfer of sensitive technology to other countries. As a nuclear weapon state, Pakistan takes its international obligations with the utmost seriousness.

In the exclusive circle of states that have tested nuclear bombs, the record shows 1,054 American blasts, compared to a single "peaceful" test by India 21 years ago. Some Indians now want another multi-kiloton detonation by their country to even the score a little. "A new test may be the only way to tell the U.S. where it gets off," well-known columnist Inder Malhotra fumed this week.

Iran's announcement last month that it will begin enriching uranium for use in a medical reactor sparked a rare bipartisan consensus in Washington. Politicians on both sides of the aisle treated the news as the latest evidence we are moving closer to a nuclear crisis. There is cause for concern, with Iran unwilling to bend to global pressure, terrorists eager to acquire an atomic device, an erratic North Korea threatening stability in East Asia and an international nuclear nonproliferation regime that appears to be getting weaker by the minute.

Re "Back Diplomacy With Force to Bar Iran From Nuclear Club," by Bennett Ramberg, Commentary, April 1: America needs to face the fact that we can no longer stop countries we don't like from going nuclear. We can bluster, we can embargo, but eventually we're going to lose. On the other hand, admittance to the nuclear club almost seems to imbue countries with a new sense of maturity. Pakistan and India stand at the brink, much like the U.S. and Russia did many years ago, yet neither pulls the trigger.

It's appalling that President Bush has signed a nuclear pact with India (March 3). Congress must step in and stop this madness. It's blatant hypocrisy to tell Iran and North Korea that they cannot develop nuclear weapons when we have thousands, some on trigger alert, and we encourage India, which came perilously close to a nuclear confrontation with Pakistan, to develop more. This can only lead to a disastrous nuclear arms race. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty states that the nonnuclear states will not develop nuclear weapons if they are never threatened with them and if the United States, Russia, France, Britain and China begin to dismantle theirs.

Re "Shakier Fingers on the Nuclear Buttons," Commentary, June 15: Rajan Menon omits the most significant fact about the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The nuclear countries, those with the bomb, agreed to eliminate their nuclear weapons as soon as possible. That was 35 years ago. Today, the United States not only has no plans to eliminate its nuclear weapons, it is even planning new types of nuclear weapons. The nonproliferation treaty is dead because it was killed by the U.S. and the other permanent members of the Security Council that refuse to take treaty obligations seriously.

AFTER PURSUING atomic weaponry for the better part of a generation, it now appears that North Korea has finally clawed its way into the "nuclear club." And that means that the global strategic game has changed forever. North Korea, which was barely tolerable to the major Asian powers back when it was merely a potential troublemaker, is now a real and present danger. The time for negotiations is over. Now it's about containment and deterrence.

Re "What's next on Iran?" editorial, Sept. 1 If the international community were really serious about nuclear nonproliferation, why not get hard-nosed with those minor powers that already have weapons of mass destruction? Like, say, Pakistan, or India, or Israel? There's the rub. Having allowed (or even helped) others to join the nuclear club, the U.S. and other wannabe big brothers have nothing to show for their feckless efforts. There is virtually no reason for Iran not to try to join.

It's appalling that President Bush has signed a nuclear pact with India (March 3). Congress must step in and stop this madness. It's blatant hypocrisy to tell Iran and North Korea that they cannot develop nuclear weapons when we have thousands, some on trigger alert, and we encourage India, which came perilously close to a nuclear confrontation with Pakistan, to develop more. This can only lead to a disastrous nuclear arms race. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty states that the nonnuclear states will not develop nuclear weapons if they are never threatened with them and if the United States, Russia, France, Britain and China begin to dismantle theirs.

I applaud Jacob Heilbrunn for voicing dissent with his editorial board ("Bush is facing reality on India," editorial, July 28). He is right that New Delhi is being accused of subverting the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, which it was never a part of. On the contrary, the five declared nuclear powers, which also happen to be members of the U.N. Security Council, have not fulfilled a key provision of the treaty -- declaring a timetable for achieving full...

He arrived at the entrance to a North Korean government-owned restaurant and karaoke club here in the Chinese capital with a handshake and a request. "Call me Mr. Anonymous," he said in English. This North Korean, an affable man in his late 50s who spent much of his career as a diplomat in Europe, has been assigned to help his communist country attract foreign investment. With the U.S.

The attempt by the Sept. 16 editorial, "Testing Our 'Ally,' Pakistan," to link Pakistan with the recent explosion in North Korea is untenable. Similarly, the assertion that Pakistan is not extending cooperation to the International Atomic Energy Agency is also without basis. Pakistan is not under any investigation. It is voluntarily cooperating with the IAEA in investigations related to transfer of sensitive technology to other countries. As a nuclear weapon state, Pakistan takes its international obligations with the utmost seriousness.

One man's legacy Re "Paying homage to a Holocaust survivor's firm grip on life," Column, Jan. 4 I've read Kurt Streeter's column on Warsaw ghetto uprising survivor Leon Weinstein several times; with each read, its impact becomes more profound. Having married the daughter of Holocaust survivors, I've come to learn from a firsthand perspective that Weinstein's story mirrors that of so many others I've heard. As tragic as these memories are, they are nevertheless exceeded by the unimaginable courage of those who survived and went on to build new lives.

AFTER PURSUING atomic weaponry for the better part of a generation, it now appears that North Korea has finally clawed its way into the "nuclear club." And that means that the global strategic game has changed forever. North Korea, which was barely tolerable to the major Asian powers back when it was merely a potential troublemaker, is now a real and present danger. The time for negotiations is over. Now it's about containment and deterrence.

Re "Shakier Fingers on the Nuclear Buttons," Commentary, June 15: Rajan Menon omits the most significant fact about the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The nuclear countries, those with the bomb, agreed to eliminate their nuclear weapons as soon as possible. That was 35 years ago. Today, the United States not only has no plans to eliminate its nuclear weapons, it is even planning new types of nuclear weapons. The nonproliferation treaty is dead because it was killed by the U.S. and the other permanent members of the Security Council that refuse to take treaty obligations seriously.

Re "Back Diplomacy With Force to Bar Iran From Nuclear Club," by Bennett Ramberg, Commentary, April 1: America needs to face the fact that we can no longer stop countries we don't like from going nuclear. We can bluster, we can embargo, but eventually we're going to lose. On the other hand, admittance to the nuclear club almost seems to imbue countries with a new sense of maturity. Pakistan and India stand at the brink, much like the U.S. and Russia did many years ago, yet neither pulls the trigger.