The Indian Nuclear Deal

With the exception of a few die-hard protectionists, most Americans — this page included — applaud President Bush's desire to build a stronger relationship with India. The world's largest democracy, with one billion people, a fast-growing economy and a lively political system, is central to America's strategic interests.

But the notion of advice and consent must include the ability for lawmakers to balk when the price for something becomes too high. Such is the case now, as the Bush administration tries to get Congress to approve the very bad nuclear deal it has struck with India.

The pact would allow India to make an end run around the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty's basic bargain — that countries renounce nuclear weapons in exchange for the right to import sensitive nuclear technology to produce energy.

America has imposed nuclear export restrictions on India because India refuses to sign the treaty and has tested a nuclear device that uses materials and technology diverted from its civilian nuclear program.

In trying to give India a special exemption, Mr. Bush is threatening a carrot-and-stick approach that has been effective for more than 35 years. It is the legal basis on which Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is trying to build a coalition against Iran's nuclear program. The treaty has persuaded countries like South Korea, Japan and Brazil to forgo nuclear weapons.

Senator Richard Lugar, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, asked Secretary Rice all the right questions during her testimony before the committee on Wednesday. Unfortunately he, along with Senator Joseph Biden, the panel's ranking Democrat, appear likely to support the deal. The central question, Mr. Lugar says, is, "How important is India?"

We beg to differ. The central question is not the importance of India, but rather the importance of deterring a global nuclear arms race.

- Editorial, The New York Times

Meet Asok (Dilbert character)

Asok (pronounced "ah-shook") is an intern in the Dilbert comic strip. He is a brilliant graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology. The character is named after a friend and co-worker of strip creator Scott Adams at Pacific Bell. "Asok" is a common Indian name, though it is usually spelled "Ashok" and pronounced "Ah-shoke". The name is an English variation of the name of an ancient king of India, Ashoka. Asok himself is Indian, but that fact was initially never mentioned in the strip. Adams says in Seven Years of Highly Defective People that this is because "I only like characters who have huge, gaping character flaws. The world is far too sensitive to let me get away with a highly flawed minority member."



Asok often solves difficult problems in a few keystrokes, but he is still naïve to the cruelties and politics of the business world. As a result, he often ends up being the scapegoat for his coworkers' antics. Despite many years as an intern, and performing the functions of a senior engineer, Asok has been denied permission to be a regular employee and the usage of company resources for his work.

It has been mentioned that Asok once lived in the handicapped stall; he later moved to a storage facility (but was only allowed an hour leave by the Pointy-Haired Boss). Asok is also trained to sleep only on national holidays, a trait that he allegedly carried over from his alma mater. In addition, he is able to perform telekinesis, using it once to vaporize an obnoxious Texan.