Cloning Diplomatic Failure

1. The Bush Administration severely limits embryonic stem cell research in the United States, permitting research only under sixty 'existing' stem cell lines.

2. While acknowledging ethical issues, scientists and pharmaceutical giants complain that the limits will impede their research and may impede the future competitiveness of the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, and lobbying efforts were stepped up.

3. The Bush Administration commences a quiet battle, not to respond to those complaints, but to impose U.S.-style restrictions (or restrictions that are perhaps even broader) on the rest of the world.

4. After initial efforst to force the desired language into a treaty failed, U.S. Deputy Ambassador James Cunningham announced that a partial ban "has never been a principle that we've been prepared to accept."

What a remarkable diplomatic team the Bush Administration has assembled. One diplomatic victory after another.

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