M A I N   N E W S

2006 — a year of Bush’s many disasters
Ashish Kumar Sen writes from Washington

As 2006 draws to a close President George W. Bush finds himself surrounded by the consequences of his disastrous foreign policy. Mr Bush, who in his State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress in 2002, called Iraq, Iran and North Korea the "Axis of Evil," found the axis dominating his list of woes this year. US troops remain mired in an unpopular war in Iraq, North Korea brazenly tested a nuclear device despite stern warnings from Washington, and Iran continues to flout US-led efforts to curtail its uranium enrichment programme.

On the domestic front, Mr Bush's popularity ratings touched all-time lows while his Republican Party lost control of both Houses of the US Congress to the Democratic Party in November. In the words of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, 2006 has been an Annus Horribilis for Mr Bush.

The one and perhaps lone success of the president's foreign policy was his effort to cement ties with India. A historic civilian nuclear cooperation deal signed at the White House on July 18, 2005, won overwhelming approval from members of the US.

The deal, that overturns over three decades of US policy not to allow nuclear cooperation with India, which is not a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, has its share of critics both in the US and in India. But in the end what mattered were the votes in Congress. The Senate passed the Bill by unanimous consent and the House of Representatives voted 330-59 in its favour.

As the bill wound its tortuous way through the US Congress, American and Indian officials took pains to point out that the blossoming bilateral relationship did not rest solely on the nuclear deal. Other factors, including a vibrant, nearly 2 million strong Indian-American community, have become a vital bond.

Ambassador Karl Inderfurth at the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, says the passage of the Bill means that the US and India "can work together not only on the easy policy issues, but the toughest ones as well."

Most analysts admit the passage of the Bill marked a milestone in the political activism of the Indian- American community.

Dr Walter Andersen, associate director of South Asia Studies at the Johns Hopkins University's School, points out that the community united politically for the first time to push for this legislation," he said, adding that, "It has potential power because of its numbers (fastest growing ethnic group in the US); its wealth (highest per capita family income of any group); and its education (highest percentage of any group with a college education)." The real lesson is that it took the combined work of the Bush Administration, the Indian-Americans and the US business community to put together a huge bipartisan majority in Congress.

The agreement still faces some hurdles. US and Indian negotiators are currently working out details of a so-called 123 Agreement that will define the parameters of the cooperation. Mr Inderfurth predicts the biggest obstacle coming up is approval from the 45-member Nuclear Supplies Group.