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Dream versus Nightmare: Reducing the threat of nuclear annihilation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con
From the picture of Ms Applebaum, I would put her in the 35-50 year old age catagory. This implies that she might recall living during the cold war, when the US, Britain, USSR, China, and France all had nuclear weapons on hair-trigger launch mode. On several occasions, we came perilously close to nuclear war due to errors in launch-detection systems on both sides. Reducing our nuclear weapons inventories in a multi-lateral, verifiable manner is in everyone's best interest. A single missile, launched in error, could kill millions.
Obama realizes this threat to international peace and safety. Strange that she does not chastise arms reduction accomplishments from the Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton, and Bush 2 administrations.
As far as her assertion "Yet there is no evidence that U.S. nuclear arms reductions have ever inspired others to do the same. All of the world's more recent nuclear powers -- Israel, India, Pakistan -- acquired their weapons well after such talks began, more than 40 years ago. " goes, she is woefully ignorant of the fact that South Africa, Brazil, and Libya have been deterred from pursuing nuclear technology. Also, she seems to have forgotten the Non-Proliferation treaty that, with the exception of a few rogue states (Pakistan, North Korea), has worked to successfully limit the spread of nuclear weapons technology. Also, she seems to forget that many nations with advanced technology have chosen not to develop nuclear weapons: Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, etc.
A world without nuclear weapons is a fantasy right now, but we have moved forward in reducing nuclear arsenals, and we must continue to move away from vast numbers of strategic warheads poised to obliterate hundreds of millions of people in less than 45 minutes.
If Ms Applebaum prefers to live in a world where nations are armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons, she is entitled to that fantasy. But for the rest of us, it sounds like a nightmare we would all rather wake up from.
From the picture of Ms Applebaum, I would put her in the 35-50 year old age catagory. This implies that she might recall living during the cold war, when the US, Britain, USSR, China, and France all had nuclear weapons on hair-trigger launch mode. On several occasions, we came perilously close to nuclear war due to errors in launch-detection systems on both sides. Reducing our nuclear weapons inventories in a multi-lateral, verifiable manner is in everyone's best interest. A single missile, launched in error, could kill millions.
Obama realizes this threat to international peace and safety. Strange that she does not chastise arms reduction accomplishments from the Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton, and Bush 2 administrations.
As far as her assertion "Yet there is no evidence that U.S. nuclear arms reductions have ever inspired others to do the same. All of the world's more recent nuclear powers -- Israel, India, Pakistan -- acquired their weapons well after such talks began, more than 40 years ago. " goes, she is woefully ignorant of the fact that South Africa, Brazil, and Libya have been deterred from pursuing nuclear technology. Also, she seems to have forgotten the Non-Proliferation treaty that, with the exception of a few rogue states (Pakistan, North Korea), has worked to successfully limit the spread of nuclear weapons technology. Also, she seems to forget that many nations with advanced technology have chosen not to develop nuclear weapons: Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, etc.
A world without nuclear weapons is a fantasy right now, but we have moved forward in reducing nuclear arsenals, and we must continue to move away from vast numbers of strategic warheads poised to obliterate hundreds of millions of people in less than 45 minutes.
If Ms Applebaum prefers to live in a world where nations are armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons, she is entitled to that fantasy. But for the rest of us, it sounds like a nightmare we would all rather wake up from.
