Center Chairman General Gard Publishes Op-ed on Military Support for Nuclear Agenda
May 20, 2010
Center Chairman General Gard has written an op-ed on the support of military leadership for the President’s nuclear weapons agenda published today by the McClatchy-Tribune news service. The article, GOP critics vs. the Pentagon, appeared in Lexington, Kentucky in the Lexington Herald-Leader
START Hearing with Former Secretary of State James Baker
May 19, 2010
Today, Former Secretary of State James Baker— a key figure when the original START treaty was negotiated- testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the history of arms control and on the New START treaty.
He called New START a modest and appropriate continuation of START I, although questions on missile defense, verification and our nuclear umbrella need to be addressed.
Baker’s testimony emphasized the importance of arms control, arguing it is a “critical component of our security” as well as that of our allies. He further suggested that our security increases when diplomatic relations between two nations are characterized by openness rather than secrecy.
He said that the New START takes us in a direction that can enhance our security, improve our relationship with Russia, allow for a reduction in the number of warheads, and increase our ability to work to stem proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee begins hearings on New START
May 18, 2010
Today the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held its first official hearing on New START with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen.
There were strong positives for the treaty. The three witnesses presented a robust defense of New START and provided very credible responses to some of the major criticisms of the treaty.
At the same time, the critics keep raising the same issues and even invented some new ones.
The Expansion of Presidential Power
May 14, 2010
Presidential power is one of the mysteries of the American political system, certainly not justified or suggested in the United States Constitution. The last thing the framers of the Constitution wanted was a king, an American George III, with the power to tax, to levy armies, to initiate wars. Yet that is our current system and presidential power is growing as the democratic spirit weakens under the pressures of maintaining world-wide hegemony.
The ultimate presidential power: only the president can order the use of a nuclear weapon against an enemy he identifies, at a moment he chooses, for reasons he alone finds adequate. To give it practical effect the president is always accompanied by an aide carrying a briefcase containing the authorization codes to fire one or all of America's nuclear weapons. The president is not required to consult anyone. Given the strength of America's nuclear arsenal, the president can destroy the entire human species and end all life on planet Earth. This enormous personal power has belonged to all presidents since 1945.
Now President Obama seeks to expand his solitary power to the domestic economic and financial sphere, seeking control of the money supply for his unilateral use and control.
This month President Obama plans to ask Congress to give him and future presidents the power to delete individual items from appropriation bills. Many previous presidents have sought to seize the power of the purse. Here is where it now resides. The U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 7, “All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives…..” subject to amendment by the Senate, the right of the president to veto, and the right of the Congress to override the veto.
Obama Administration fact sheet summarizing its 10-year nuclear budget
May 13, 2010
The New START Treaty – Maintaining a Strong Nuclear Deterrent
Earlier today, the President submitted the New START Treaty to the Senate for its advice and consent to ratification. An important milestone for the President’s non-proliferation agenda, the treaty will limit the U.S. and Russia to significantly fewer strategic arms, while permitting each Party the flexibility to determine for itself the structure of its strategic forces within the Treaty limits.
The President has also provided to Congress a classified report, as required by Section 1251 of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2010, on the comprehensive plan to: (1) maintain delivery platforms; (2) sustain a safe, secure, and reliable U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile; and (3) modernize the nuclear weapons complex. This report is based on the policies and principles in the Nuclear Posture Review and describes a comprehensive plan for sustaining a strong nuclear deterrent for the duration of the New START Treaty and beyond. The plan includes investments of $80 billion to sustain and modernize the nuclear weapons complex over the next decade.
5,113 Nukes in the U.S. Arsenal
May 03, 2010
The United States disclosed the current size of its nuclear arsenal for the first time today: 5,113 warheads operationally deployed, kept in active reserve and held in inactive storage.
This number does not include an estimated 4,600 warheads that have been retired and scheduled for dismantlement.
While operationally deployed strategic warheads have been previously disclosed -- 1,968 at the end of 2009 -- an overall number has never been reported.
According to the following fact sheet, the U.S. nuclear arsenal has been reduced by 84 percent from its maximum level of 31,225 warheads at the end of fiscal year 1967.
More after the jump...
Senate Hearing With Schlesinger Damaging for New START Critics
May 03, 2010
By Travis Sharp and John Isaacs – May 3, 2010
Dr. James Schlesinger—former CIA director, Nixon/Ford Secretary of Defense, and the nation’s first Secretary of Energy—possesses major cachet in the security policy community, particularly with Republicans. The venerably conservative Wall Street Journal anointedhim “Yoda, the master of the universe” for nuclear strategists. This prominence explains why Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee nominated him to lead the conservative wing of the U.S. Strategic Posture Commission, which released its final report last year.
On April 29, however, at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s introductory hearing on New START, Schlesinger authoritatively refuted arguments advanced by New START critics. Was Schlesinger effusive about the treaty? No. Did he raise potential concerns about it? Yes. But he also powerfully, if subtlety, rebutted several key criticisms of New START while firmly endorsing ratification.
Let’s take this issue by issue
Big Day for New START agreement
Apr 29, 2010
The prospects for ratification of the New START nuclear arms reduction agreement rose dramatically today.
Former Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger, who was a key figure in torpedoing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1999 and opposed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997, today endorsed ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty.
He is widely admired by Republicans for his extensive experience and forceful positions on nuclear issues and has been a close ally of Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ). Schlesinger and Kyl almost dual-handedly killed the test ban treaty.
His endorsement of the treaty follow that of other Republican heavyweights such as Former Republican Secretaries of State George Shultz, Former National Security Advisors Brent Scowcroft and Stephen Hadley, Former National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator Ambassador Linton Brooks, former Secretary of Defense William Cohen and former START negotiator Richard Burt.
It also follows enthusiastic support for the treaty by uniformed and civilian Pentagon leadership.
Public opinion polling shows strong support for the treaty as well: 60% in a Quinnipiac poll and 70% in a CNN poll.
Quinnipiac poll: Senate should approve New START
Apr 22, 2010
SENATE SHOULD RATIFY NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT TREATY,
U.S. VOTERS TELL QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY NATIONAL POLL;
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1295.xml?ReleaseID=1448
American voters say 60 – 33 percent that the U.S. Senate should ratify the nuclear disarmament treaty President Barack Obama recently signed with Russia, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
Support for Senate action is 74 – 21 percent among Democrats and 63 – 32 percent among independent voters, while Republicans oppose the measure, 48 – 43 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University survey finds.
Voters agree 79 – 17 percent that the biggest threat to U.S. security is the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The Two Faces of Senator Inhofe
Apr 19, 2010
"U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said a treaty signed by President Barack Obama and Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev to limit nuclear weapons faces a hard battle in the Senate, 'and I'll lead the opposition to it.'"
Associated Press - April 18, 2010
"We support your determination to bring into force a follow-on agreement to START prior to its lapse on December 5th of this year. However, we will be reluctant to support any agreement that is explicitly conditioned on U.S. abandonment of missile defenses in Europe or otherwise linked to a U.S. decision to curtail or abandon those defenses. "
July 2, 2009 letter to the President signed by Senator Inhofe
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, Vice Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff James Cartwright Commander of U.S. Strategic Command Gen. Kevin Chilton and Director Missile Defense Agency Lieutenant General Patrick O'Reilly say that the New START agreement does not constrain U.S. missile defense programs in any way.
Why is Senator Inhofe changing his position?
