Which One Does Not Belong?

It is the season of the SAT tests, and Bush's nuclear deal with India has given Congress has a chance to join in the pre-test prep - as a practice question, Congress can puzzle over which of the following countries does not belong with the other two:

Perhaps the strongest and most discussed critique of the deal goes like this: Mr. Bush's timing could not be worse. In the eyes of his critics, he is creating a double standard by legitimizing an Indian weapons program that only eight years ago led Washington to impose huge sanctions, while demanding, in the same week, that Iran and North Korea give up any capacity to make their own nuclear fuel.

My goodness, a double standard where we treat responsible democracies differently than we treat rogue states!  Whatever will Bush think of next?

Let's reach back a few days for Administration reaction to the "double standard" criticism:

"The comparison between India and Iran is just ludicrous," R. Nicholas Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs, said Thursday in a telephone interview. "India is a highly democratic, peaceful, stable state that has not proliferated nuclear weapons. Iran is an autocratic state mistrusted by nearly all countries and that has violated its international commitments."

The Times also covers the unsurprising non-deal with Pakistan.

Comments

[kim]

This is mal de MSM. 'Double standard' has a pejorative meaning when 'nuanced' or 'discriminating stance' might have served the truth better. It is really a diss of their readers, who are expected to react to the 'double standard' rather than to consider that circumstances vary. It's an admission that their readers are biased and stupid.
=====================================

[Gary Maxwell]

What this bit of international alliance does not pass the global test?

[kim]

All the News You Want Us to Print.

Gimmee that old time alanine,
Gimmee that old time glycine,
Let me wrap you up in bias,
Leave you snug in your new house.
===================================

[Anonymous Liberal]

Kim, does it really make sense to blame the media for this "double-standard" talk? Just last week, the President suggested that anyone who wanted to treat the United Arab Emirates any differently than Great Britain is guilty of bigotry. I agree with Tom that India deserves different treatment than other countries (by virtue of being a democracy, etc.), but it's somewhat hypocritical for the administration to accuse its critics of being bigots for applying a "double-standard" and then immediately apply an obvious "double-standard."

[Gary Maxwell]

Does it make any difference that the "critics" do not bother to apply any remote resemblance of fairness to their criticism? Shoudl we hold up only one end of the spectrum to a fairness standard or is it really just a word war and anything goes?

[Sue]

Anon,

Am I reading you correctly? The president is being hypocritical by not applying the same standard to Iran and NK that is applied to India?

[JM Hanes]

Sue

I think Anon Lib is trying to say that the Prez is being hypocritical when calls his critics hypocritical, or something.

[JM Hanes]

In a further irony, the IAEA applauded the India deal. Go figure.

[Jim K.]

AL seems to be claiming the following analogy:

India:(Iran or N. Korea) as UK:UAE.

Hmm, don't think he would have done too well on his SATs with that kind of reasoning.

Seems to me the key is not democracy vs. dictatorship, but ally vs. enemy, or trustworthy vs. untrustworthy. Democracy is a contributor to being trustworthy and an ally, but it's neither necessary or sufficient, as Hugo Chavez and the UAE demonstrate.

[kim]

As you can see, there are double standards and there are double standards. Does that make quadruple standards or is it some log function?
===============================================

[TM]

it's somewhat hypocritical for the administration to accuse its critics of being bigots for applying a "double-standard" and then immediately apply an obvious "double-standard."

Well, the Admin "double standard" on India is not based on race or religion, which would seem to be the criteria employed by the critics of the Dubai deal.

[MayBee]

I think Iran and North Korea are smart enough to know they aren't like India.

[kim]

Yeah, it's not rocket science.
===============================