Lost credibility ties Bush's hands on nukes

"Washington and its closest allies - at least those who try to put themselves in Washington's shoes - now realize that they are beleaguered by the Pandora's Box of nuclear and missile proliferation and have no adequate policy to deal with them," writes Jonathan Power in the Boston Globe. "Their moral authority is all but used up, just when they need it most, to deal with Iraq first and now North Korea."

Power concludes:

Maybe all this hypocrisy and double think had some justification when the West was locked in a life and death struggle with the Soviet Union. But for the last 10 years it has become visibly intellectually unsustainable. If President Bush feels that events are propelling him into a no-win situation with Iraq and North Korea, then here in 40 years of dissembling and double dealing is at least some part of the explanation.

It's about time someone said this...