LAWRENCE WITTNER – After nearly four years of the Trump administration, U.S. voters have a pretty good idea of the policies that the President and his Republican allies champion when it comes to America’s dealings with other nations. These policies include massive increases in military spending, lengthy wars abroad, threats of nuclear war, withdrawal from climate and nuclear disarmament treaties, a crackdown on refugees, and abandonment of international institutions. But what about the Democrats?
Tag: New START Treaty
We’re More at Risk of Nuclear War With Russia Than We Think
GEORGE BEEBE – Today, that old dread of disaster has all but disappeared, as have the systems that helped preclude it. But the actual threat of nuclear catastrophe is much greater than we realize. U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle need to start addressing the danger.
Dear Moderators of the Presidential Debates: How about Raising the Issue of How to Avert Nuclear War?
LAWRENCE WITTNER – Moderators of the presidential debates, don’t you—as stand-ins for the American people—think it might be worthwhile to ask the candidates some questions about U.S. preparations for nuclear war and how best to avert a global catastrophe of unprecedented magnitude?
Trump’s Getting Us Ready to Fight a Nuclear War
LAWRENCE WITTNER – Although many people have criticized the bizarre nature of Donald Trump’s diplomacy with North Korea, his recent love fest with Kim Jong Un does have the potential to reduce the dangers posed by nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula. Even so, buried far below the mass media coverage of the summit spectacle, the reality is that Trump―assisted by his military and civilian advisors―is busy getting the United States ready for nuclear war.
Backstory of the New START Treaty Revealed
JOHN LAFORGE – Last May the Obama administration promised $80 billion to the nuclear weapons establishment for “modernizing†the arsenal. Three large H-bomb laboratories will share about $10 billion annually to “upgrade†U.S. warheads, and they will get equal sums for the next 10 years. The funds are for a new $4.5 billion “Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement†complex at Los Alamos, New Mexico; a new $3.5 billion “Uranium Processing Facility†at the Y-12 lab in Tennessee; and a couple billion more for a replacement “Kansas City Plant†in Missouri that will make nonnuclear parts for the warheads. With the buildup, the U.S. will be able to quadruple its current warhead production capacity from 20 to 80 per year, according to Nuclear Watch New Mexico.
Path for Vote on New START Treaty this Year Goes Through Kyl
JOSH ROGIN – According to top officials the administration is working hard to secure a floor vote for the New START nuclear reductions treaty with Russia during Congress’s post-election lame duck session. “We are looking to pursue a final vote on the floor before the end of the year and we think it’s very important to continue working very hard in that direction,” said Rose Gottemoeller, the treaty’s lead negotiator and Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance, and Implementation. “Every day that goes by is another day we do not have inspectors on the ground in the Russian Federation… We’re going to continue to do everything we can over the coming weeks to see it ratified and entered into force this year.”