The Bush administration has announced it now opposes international weapons inspections as part of an international nuclear weapons treaty. The policy shift was announced during last week’s arms control meeting in Geneva. The State Department issued a statement that said allowing weapons inspectors into the United States and other countries “would have been so extensive that it could compromise key signatories’ core national security interests and so costly that many countries will be hesitant to accept it.” But critics of the US policy say that without inspections the international community will have no way to verify if countries are abiding by the treaty.

According to the Washington Post, arms control specialists say the Bush administration’s decision virtually kills a 10-year international effort to lure countries such as Pakistan, India and Israel into accepting some oversight of their nuclear production programs.