China Daily: Nuclear Disarmament, a path less travelled

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Sean Hannity calls Obama “Worst President” Ever

Rightrdia suspected conservatives would have a fit when Obama announced changes to the arachaic US strategic nuclear policy.

Sean Hannity declared Barack Obama the “worst president ever” for his commitment to nuclear disarmament, only to sputter out a series of introspective questions mercifully interrupted by Newt Gingrich. “Our enemies must be rejoicing,” Hannity boldly declared as he discussed the details of Obama’s new nuclear disarmament policies that would stop the building of nuclear weapons and prohibit their use against non-nuclear powers.

Many years ago the US developed a policy called Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). The Major, our international affairs writer liked the acronymn 'MAD' because any nation considering the use of nuclear weapons would have to be unbalanced. Nobody wins in a nuclear exchange.
 
Nuclear weapons were only been used twice at the end of Wordl War 2. After the war ended, the US spent 47 per cent of its defense budget on nuclear weapons until out policy makers realized the utility of these weapons is limited. Once a adversary has a nuclear capability, the use of nuclear weapons becomes unthinkable.

Of course, this is the reason Israel, which may have up to 200 tactical nukes, doesn't want Iran to develop a similar capability. Once the Iranians have nukes, it will blunt the Israeli nuclear arsenal.

US and Russia agree to nuclear cuts

Barack Obama, the US president, has said the US and Russia have agreed to "reset" their relationship after the two countries reached a preliminary deal on reducing their stockpiles of nuclear weapons.

Obama, right, has said he wants to 'reset relations' between Russia and the US (AFP)

Obama said after talks with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, in Moscow on Monday:

 As the world's two leading nuclear powers, the United States and Russia must lead by example, and that is what we are doing here today. This starts with the reduction of our nuclear arsenals.

He said he and Medvedev had agreed that relations between Washington and Moscow had "suffered from a sense of drift".

"We resolved to reset US-Russian relations so that we can co-operate more effectively in areas of common interest.

"Today, after less than six months of co-operation, we have done exactly that by taking concrete steps forward on a range of issues."

The nuclear framework deal commits the two countries to cut the number of nuclear warheads they each hold after the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start-I) expires in December.

"Without any doubt, this is the kind of meeting expected and hoped for on our side and on [the US] side"

Within seven years after this treaty comes into force, and in future, the limits for warheads linked to ... [strategic delivery systems should be] within the range of 1,500-1,675 units," the framework agreement read.

Medvedev said: "There have been a number of problems in recent years - in fact, many problems."

But he said the arms deal was "not only vital for the future of our countries, but will also affect the outlook for world developments in many ways".

"Without any doubt, this is the kind of meeting expected and hoped for on our side and on [the US] side," he added.

Alexander Nekrassov, a former advisor to the Kremlin, told Al Jazeera that Monday's meeting was significant because it marked the start of a "conciliatory tone" from the US towards Russia.

"We are usually used to the American president being tough and the Russians explaining themselves. This is a different approach completely," Nekrassov said.

"Now there are two questions, whether President Obama is conciliatory from the point of view of strength or weakness.

"Obama is playing the right cards. But the problem is how the Kremlin interprets that. They might start thinking that Obama is weak."

Serious challenge

The two presidents also agreed to work towards monitoring the security of vulnerable nuclear material within four years, Obama said.

He said Moscow was also open to discussing how best to address the Iran and North Korea's nuclear programmes, saying: "North Korea has abandoned its own commitments and violated international law.

"That is why I am pleased that Russia joined us in passing a UN Security Council Resolution that calls for strong steps to block North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes."

"Iran also poses a serious challenge through its failure to live up to international obligations.

"This is not just a problem for the United States; it raises the prospect of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East - which would endanger global security - while Iran's ballistic missile programme could also pose a threat to the broader region."

Obama and Medvedev also announced that Russia had authorised the use of its airspace for the transit of US troops and arms to Afghanistan.

The deal will open up a crucial corridor for the US as it steps up its fight against the Taliban in line with Obama's new Afghanistan strategy.

 
Source:  http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/07/200976144939250600.html

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