Hans Blix — you may remember the name — comes out with a startling revelation here.

He says nuclear weapons are dangerous, and would like to get rid of them.

A study led by former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix called Thursday for outlawing nuclear weapons and reviving global cooperation on disarmament including security guarantees to curb the nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea.

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But he said “we are going to have to come much further in the area of a settlement of the Middle East before this can be a possibility.”

No kidding. So two news flashes in a row: (1) Nuclear weapons are dangerous, and (2) the Middle East may be a problem. My goodness, this study is certainly shaping up to be a standard UN one. It took a long time, cost a lot of money, and then reports things that are either known by everyone, have no real solution offered, or both.

If only there were some way to blame the US, it would be the perfect UN report. Oh, wait.

In the broader effort to free the world of weapons of mass destruction, the commission said the single most important thing that countries can do is to ratify the nuclear test ban treaty, which the U.S. Senate has rejected.

“We don’t see any sign of that here in the current administration, and the U.S. is opposed to a ratification but the reality is probably that if the U.S. were to ratify then China would, if China did then India would, if India did Pakistan would, if Pakistan did then Iran would. So it would set in motion a good domino effect,” Blix said.

Perfect.

Yes, if we just signed the treaty, then the elves would come and spread pixie dust, and they would fix all the shoes and replace the missiles in North Korea and Iran with ponies, and . . .

I do apologize to the readers expecting Steven T.’s more thoughtful analysis, but this has been a long week and frankly, I cannot see that this report merits a thoughtful response. North Korea signed a treaty in the 90’s, then promptly broke it. Their leader had no intention of *ever* following through on it. the USSR broke arms control treaties whenever it felt like it benefited from such a breach. It is baffling that Mr. Blix feels that this next treaty will somehow be magically different.

Unless you believe the elf theory.