Robert Einhorn Quotations

Obviously, the United States does not have the final say on who has the right to pursue civil nuclear energy programs,

Basically the nuclear establishment of India dug in its heels, Prime Minister Singh backed them up, and the administration caved again.

If the approach we took with the North Koreans gave the impression to the Iranians that the European proposal is unworkable because of a lack of American support, that could be a problem,

This wasn't a big substantive reconciliation. This was an agreement to set aside a disagreement and move ahead with the talks.

I think the administration lowered the bar a bit too far. And if the deal is implemented as it currently stands, in my view there will be some negative implications for our global non-proliferation efforts. I think we'll have a harder time persuading other countries to tighten the rules while we're urging them to make exceptions.

Sure, the North Koreans can do tremendous damage in South Korea through rocket attacks, artillery and missiles but invading the South is totally unrealistic in this stage of the game.

The deal appears to give India complete freedom not just to continue but also to expand its production of fissile material for nuclear weapons. In the future, any reactor it designates as 'military' can be used for the weapons program. ... It's less clear what the U.S. got out of the deal.

This set the real issues aside, it did not solve them. But it prevents gridlock and a collapse of the talks. ... I see it as a positive but not a big substantive move, but it took some movement in the administration to make this happen.

This sends the signal that bilateral relations and other strategic interests will trump nonproliferation. And that will reduce the perceived penalties associated with going nuclear.

At their very best, the inspectors can complicate and restrain and slow down Iraq's clandestine efforts, and give us a better picture of what is going on in Iraq than we have to today, ... They cannot compel Iraqi compliance and therefore not put an end to the WMD threat posed by Iraq.

This deal permits India to do much more than continue producing fissile material for weapons. It allows India to vastly increase its nuclear arsenal.

The nuclear options that India insisted on protecting in this deal cast serious doubt on its declared policy of seeking only a credible minimum deterrent.

The North Koreans should not be compensated for agreeing to stop conducting an act which they should not be conducting in the first place.

India appears to have fully achieved all its negotiating objectives: importing uranium and nuclear technology, gaining recognition as a nuclear weapon state and preserving full freedom to expand its nuclear weapons capability as it sees fit.

In retrospect, we impeded a lot more of their progress than we knew.

In terms of threats -- at this point -- the Bush administration sees the Iranian regime as more threatening than the North Korean regime.

I personally woke up this morning and I didn't know about it.

I don't think it blows up the deal. What it does is underline how difficult the process remains.