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Nuclear Weapons: Time for a Renewed Vision
For the past eight years, FCNL and other nuclear disarmament advocates have been on a treadmill, working hard to stay in the same place. And we’ve been successful. Congress has rejected the Bush administration’s plans to build new nuclear weapons.
With the inauguration of a new president and new Congress next January, advocates of a new direction in U.S. nuclear weapons policy have an opportunity to shift the debate and make real progress on nuclear disarmament.
To succeed, however, this campaign can’t wait till January. We need to start now, urging presidential and congressional candidates to embrace a vision of a world free of nuclear weapons.
A Critical Time for Nuclear Disarmament
The opening days of the next administration will set the tone for the years to come. The next president could send a strong signal to the international community that the United States is committed to a world free of nuclear weapons — by renegotiating the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia, asking Congress to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and participating energetically in negotiations leading up to the next global review conference for the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty.
The next administration should also stop talking about the unthinkable: using nuclear weapons in war. FCNL’s campaigns against the nuclear “bunker buster” and the Reliable Replacement Warhead have so far helped keep the United States from building “usable” nuclear weapons. The next administration and Congress should stop trying to fund new nuclear weapons and start working to eliminate them.
The next president won’t have to work alone. He’ll have support from leaders across the political spectrum. Former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, former Sen. Sam Nunn (GA), and former Defense Secretary William Perry are urging the U.S. government to recommit itself to eliminating nuclear weapons.
What Happens Before the Election Matters
This vision is not yet part of the electoral discussion in 2008. In fact, during their debates this year, four presidential candidates suggested they might actually use nuclear weapons against Iran.
If we want to free humankind from the threat of nuclear devastation, candidates need to hear how important this issue is to their electorate, and they need to hear this message now. Whether they are incumbents or challengers, candidates “listen louder” during campaigns than at any other times in their careers. The issues that voters raise during the campaign are more likely to become priorities for candidates once elected.
Every candidate for national office this year should be asked to support the elimination of all nuclear weapons. The presidential candidates should say they will recommit the United States to international treaties curbing their production and use.
The world is ready to embrace the renewed vision of an Earth free of nuclear weapons; will the United States show it is ready, too?
Also In This Issue
Ask the Candidates: Nuclear Weapons
Picking Up the Pieces: The U.S. and Nuclear Disarmament Treaties
Five Steps toward a Nuclear-Free World
Keeping Tabs on Loose Nuclear Weapons
Cluster Bomb Ban Treaty Advances without U.S.
Nuclear Weapons: What Didn't Happen
Reviewed:
07/16/2008
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