Bush, Putin, and Splitting Atoms

While searching for a good Thai restaurant on the Post's website, I noticed this article. Bush is slated to announce a program of civilian nuclear cooperation with Russia, rewarding and recognizing Putin and Russia for their role in helping to contain Iranian nuclear ambitions. Apparently I've missed that cooperation; all I've seen is the usual tired Russian obstruction, refusal to consider sanctions, and continued insistence about their relevance on the world stage. What this deal is is little more than a financial incentive for Russia to potentially start playing along with us on Iran and North Korea, as it will permit US-supplied reactors worldwide to have their spent nuclear fuel shipped to Russia for storage.

So let's again pause here to consider this. We're sending nuclear fuel to Russia, land of Chernobyl (back in the day), and now a corrupt system that we're not too convinced isn't selling nuclear weapons to unsavory characters. Am I reading this right?

And again, all of this comes on top of a wave of Russian churlishness that, in my eyes, doesn't lend itself to any sort of incentives. Not just their uncooperative stance on Iran and North Korea, but also the emerging reports of especially close cooperation with Iraq pre-invasion, and Putin's continued descent towards authoritarianism.

Oh and experts say Congress will hate this too. Can I be the first to call this Dubai Ports: Redux?