President Bush's Nuclear Mistake

It Shines for All, The New York Sun Blog:

In his press conference today President Bush said he supported the Russian proposal for the Iranians to enrich uranium in Moscow. The president said "I think that is a good plan. The Russians came up with the idea, and I support it."

He continued: "The reason why I think it makes sense is because I do believe people ought to be able to be allowed to have civilian nuclear power." True, except that Iran has one of the largest oil and natural gas reserves in the world, so one can safely assume that the nuclear material is not going to be used for civilian purposes. And if it was a civilian program, why the 18 years of deception?

Perhaps the president is counting on Iran to reject Russia's offer, hoping that will then remove any excuses for Russia to object to Security Council action. But is the support of a country heading away from freedom something worth gambling our safety for?

Negotiating Moscow's offer allows Iran more time to build its bomb, and the offer itself, if accepted, would only move Iran closer to that goal.