If everything goes according to the White Houses’ demands, America could soon see reduction in the nuclear stockpile dramatically, so much so that we would potentially have as few bombs as the earliest days of the Cold War. Obama and his administration are considering a number of proposals by the pentagon to cut the number of deployed nukes, which would decrease the U.S. arsenal to about 300-400 warheads.
The recent START treaty with Russia requires both countries to cut their deployed warheads to 1,550, showing that these reduction plans are indeed significant. Republicans such as Representative Trent Franks of Arizona quickly responded to the new proposal “I just want to go on record as saying that there are many of us that are going to do everything we possibly can to make sure that this preposterous notion does not gain any real traction.”
The fact that Obama has plans brewing for nuclear weapon reduction is noteworthy. Although against it in their own ways, the republicans fail to answer the most important question: In the post-Soviet age, can the US do as much–or more–with fewer nukes? As for now, the answer seems to be yes, we can.
Title: “Obama May Ditch Most U.S. Nukes”
Author: Adam Weinstein
Publication: Mother Jones
Date: February 17th, 2012
URL: http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/nuclear-weapons-reduction-obama
Faculty Evaluator: Norman Skonovd, Sonoma State University
Student Researcher: Colin O’Kane, Sonoma State University