Regarding the crucial problems of nuclear proliferation and nuclear weapons arsenals, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said in his speech opening the international conference on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty in New York today, "I challenge you to agree that they are all too important to be held hostage to the politics of the past."
But it is more likely that progress on ridding the world of nuclear threats is held hostage to the politics of the present.
In the midst of partisan wrangling in Congress over something called "the nuclear option," many Americans who follow politics may be surprised to learn that the real nuclear option is being discussed by representatives of 188 nations in New York City, beginning today.
The ultimate weapon has slipped from consciousness. Its immense and long-lasting destructiveness, killing and maiming for generations, doesn't seem to scare us anymore. It's just a macho name for a political maneuver.
That couldn't be better for the Bush administration and their perverse agenda.
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