The Best Laid Plans of Condi Rice

After last month's paradigm shifting announcement of the US-India nuclear agreement, we still have to wait to see what shakes out. The fait accompli announcements of heads of states and their praetorian staff are all very good, but question marks hover over the big announcement. Executive branches may have raised their glasses, but the respective legislatures aren't signing off on an open bar.

The Indian Parliament wonders if they are just trading dependency on oil for dependency on the small coterie of nuclear fuel suppliers. The US Congress frets about the Bush administration, once again, just as with Iraq, not consulting them. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

When the dust settles, we see where the two Democracies land, perhaps somewhere between 'an act of statesmanship' and 'an act of faith'.