Re: “Obama-led U.N. council backs broad nuclear agenda” (thenewstribune.com, 9-25).
President Obama sounds sincere when he says, “America intends to keep our end of the bargain. We will pursue a new agreement with Russia to substantially reduce our strategic warheads and launchers. We will move forward with ratification of the Test Ban Treaty, and work with others to bring the treaty into force so that nuclear testing is permanently prohibited. We will complete a Nuclear Posture Review that opens the door to deeper cuts and reduces the role of nuclear weapons.”
However, in order to accomplish these goals, Obama will need broad support. And the reality is that he will face stiff resistance at home, as presidents have for a generation.
Another fact that is ignored is that the United States has not held up its end of the bargain. The Non-Proliferation Treaty we signed in 1968 states that we will “pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament.”
With this, why should other nations believe Obama now?
If the president is truly sincere in his comments, he must acknowledge these truths and be prepared to lead the effort towards nuclear disarmament. We the people must demand our representatives assume the lead and be persistent in the work of disarmament. (Eichholz is executive director of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility.)
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