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<\/p>\n\nSource: Peace Action<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
On June 19, President Obama also directed the Pentagon to release a report to Congress. The US government\u2019s \u201cNuclear Employment Strategy\u201d (NES) appears to make only minor changes from existing US nuclear policy. Although the administration\u2019s position has been to work toward making deterrence of nuclear attack the \u201csole purpose\u201d of US nuclear weapons, the NES reports that \u201cwe cannot adopt such a policy today.\u201d The NES retains \u201ccounterforce strategy\u201d as one aspect of US nuclear policy. This is \u201cdesigned to employ US nuclear weapons to destroy an enemy nation\u2019s nuclear weapons, delivery systems, installations\u201d\u2014a policy that is likely to be very destabilizing, as it provides incentive for nations to knock out opponents\u2019 nuclear weapons before they can be used. Thus nations are more likely to initiate nuclear war and to acquire large numbers of nuclear weapons. (LS Wittner, History News Network 7\/8\/13. For full article, see www.peaceactioncny.org.)<\/p>\n
An oft-ignored aspect of our huge nuclear arsenal is the expense. As Joel Rubin of the Ploughshares Fund writes:<\/p>\n
\u201cOur massive stockpile of nuclear weapons was designed to fight a foe\u2014the Soviet Union\u2014that no longer exists. It costs between $60-70 billion per year to maintain this arsenal. In an era of fiscal stress and tight budgets, where security threats are transnational and distinct from the Cold War, what justification do we have for maintaining such a large nuclear arsenal? It turns out, not much. There is a consensus among senior defense and security officials that we should reshape our nuclear forces and use the financial savings to fund other national security priorities. By reshaping our nuclear arsenal, we would allow our national security strategy to redirect resources to combating the threats of the 21st century, such as terrorism, cyber dangers, pandemics, and global warming.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\nThe President\u2019s June 19 speech is long overdue. While welcome, it is but a baby step towards the goal of eliminating nuclear arms. After the global demonstrations against the Iraq War in 2003, the NYT<\/i> called civil society \u201cthe second superpower.\u201d This gives us a huge responsibility, and the peace community has big plans. Please start by joining with Peace Action\u2019s summer events and by signing and helping us to distribute a national petition to pressure president Obama to take much bolder steps to eliminate nuclear weapons. Find the petition at www.peaceactioncny.org or on our Facebook page.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAs long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe.\u201d After approximately two years of silence on the issue, on June 19 President Obama called for reducing US and Russian nuclear weapons while speaking in Berlin. Many praised his proposal for a reduction of long-range nuclear weapons by \u201cup…<\/p>\n