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U.S. public will wake up to danger of far right nuclear politics

The public debate will also likely expand with the July 23 release of a new documentary from the team that made An Inconvenient Truth. The film, Countdown to Zero, is a nuclear wake-up call about the real threats we face and the urgent need for action.

Nuclear Naivete,THE HUFFINGTON POST, Joe Cirincione: ,  24 May 2010, Far-right conservatives posture as nuclear tough guys, but push a shockingly naive policy. Clinging to Cold War doctrines, they play politics with our nuclear weapons. It is a dangerous game that puts American security at risk. Representative Mike Turner (R-OH) rammed through an amendment at the House Armed Services Committee mark-up of the Defense Authorization Bill last week that condemns the new U.S. nuclear strategy endorsed by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the directors of the nation’s nuclear laboratories. Why? Rep. Turner wants to use nuclear weapons in Afghanistan…….

This tough-sounding policy is just dumb. It would reverse decades of strategy followed by Republican and Democratic presidents who have told other nations: “If you don’t have nuclear weapons, we won’t attack you with ours.” The new U.S. policy simply updates this long-standing pledge. It recognizes, as the Joint Chiefs know, that we have enough conventional firepower to deliver a devastating response to any attack. Turner’s nuclear bravado would simply encourage other countries to get their own nuclear bombs.

We cannot afford this crude, naive approach to national security…….a growing bipartisan consensus of experts and military officials recognizes that whatever benefits nuclear weapons may have provided in the past are outweighed by the risks they present now. The greatest threats to our country, says the new nuclear strategy developed by the Obama Administration, are nuclear terrorism and new nuclear-armed states. To prevent both, we need the cooperation of many other nations. To get that cooperation, we must move together with them to reduce and eventually eliminate all nuclear weapons. “Clinging to nuclear weapons in excess of our security needs,” says Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “gives other countries the motivation or the excuse to pursue their own nuclear options.”……The public debate will also likely expand with the July 23 release of a new documentary from the team that made An Inconvenient Truth. The film, Countdown to Zero, is a nuclear wake-up call about the real threats we face and the urgent need for action. Lawrence Bender, the film’s producer, says, “My hope is that Countdown to Zero will not only make people aware of the scope of this threat, but will also help create the political will necessary to ensure that the Senate ratifies the New START treaty without delay or partisan bickering.”

The full House of Representatives should scuttle the Turner amendment when they consider the defense bill later this month. The Congress should pay attention to our current and recent military and security leaders. Our nuclear security is too important to leave to amateurs. Joe Cirincione: Nuclear Naivete

May 25, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons