Recently Vice President Biden with the full blessing of President Obama indicated the administration would push ahead with the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. A treaty that was rejected by the Senate many years ago. Those on the left have long fought for a treaty such as this as a first step on the road to total nuclear disarmament on our part. The left has been opposed to nuclear weapons since their development and would like to see them eliminated world wide. No one likes these weapons and would like to see them gone. That being said there is no fool proof method for doing this. At this point in time we can't even be sure if a small nation like Iran has nukes or is close to getting them. It is utter foolishness to believe we can accomplish the destruction and dismantling of all nuclear weapons on a world wide scale and be completely sure none are left in undisclosed hiding places.Imagine the United State without a single nuke. What would we do at some future time when threatened by some rogue third world power which has secretly developed nuclear weapons and threatens us here at home or in some distance part of the world, knowing that we cannot retaliate in kind to an attack on us. Would we be forced to borrow some nukes from Israel or perhaps Pakistan! Disarming is out of the question and those who would put such a thing on the table for international discussion are living in an Utopian dream world that is not at all reflective of the real world we must live in.
The Obama administration will move ahead with Senate ratification of a treaty banning nuclear tests that was voted down by Republicans more than a decade ago, Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. said Thursday.
In a speech setting out the administration's arms-control agenda, Mr. Biden also said the United States will continue to pursue President Obama's call for the elimination of all U.S. nuclear arms, but defended spending $7 billion in the coming year to repair an aging arsenal.
The administration is close to reaching a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia, and is nearing completion of a review of U.S. nuclear weapons forces, Mr. Biden said at the National Defense University.
"Our agenda is based on a clear-eyed assessment of our national interest," Mr. Biden said. "We have long relied on nuclear weapons to deter potential adversaries. Now, as our technology improves, we are developing non-nuclear ways to accomplish that same objective."
Non-nuclear weapons development includes the administration's plan for an "adaptive" missile-defense shield and conventional warheads "with worldwide reach," he said.
"With these modern capabilities, even with deep nuclear reductions, we will remain undeniably strong," Mr. Biden said.
On ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, known as the CTBT, Mr. Biden said that gaining Senate approval for the pact is part of the administration's efforts to limit the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Read more at Washington Times
