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That face-saving gesture leaves the US open to accusations
of double standards. For example, the US condemns North Korea for exporting
Scud missile technology, but forgives Pakistan for exporting nuclear weapons
technology. Washington overthrew Saddam Hussein on suspicion of his capacity
and intentions with regard to weapons of mass destruction, but lets pass
Pakistan's blatant breaches of nuclear non-proliferation protocols.
In American usage, the problematic term "rogue state" usually means a nation
which puts a high priority on subverting other nations by violence, including
terrorism in all its forms. Since September 11, 2001, the declared mission of
the United States President, George Bush, is to prevent the spread of weapons
of mass destruction to terrorists and regimes that sponsor them. His decision
to make war on Iraq was based on the threat he said it posed with its weapons
of mass destruction.
Pakistan's marketing of nuclear weapons technology to Iran, Libya and North
Korea surely makes it a rogue state in US eyes. Yet Washington's response to
Pakistan's utter disregard for the wider concerns - shared by many countries,
including Australia - about nuclear weapons proliferation has been
extraordinarily mild. No sanctions of any kind are proposed. Instead, Mr Bush
has side-stepped the issue and called for a new commitment by the 40-nation
"Nuclear Suppliers Group" to refuse to sell nuclear equipment to any country
that does not have fully operating facilities to enrich uranium or reprocess
spent nuclear fuel into plutonium.
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Pakistan, a rogue state unpunished
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/12/1076548157407.html?from=storyrhs
SMH, Australia
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