|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Is America's nuclear stockpile too large? |
| Yes |
|
63% |
[ 7 ] |
| No |
|
36% |
[ 4 ] |
|
| Total Votes : 11 |
|
| Author |
Message |
Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
|
 Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 11:12 am Post subject: 5 Myths about American De-Nuclearization |
 |
|
These are myths from the American perspective. Since there's a lot of Commonwealthers on this board, I expect you know (or at least assume) most of these facts are already true.
5 myths about the Bomb and Us
| Quote: |
The Bush administration likes to boast that it has dramatically cut the size of the nation's nuclear stockpile. Meanwhile, it's busily trying to shore up congressional support for multibillion-dollar proposals to "modernize" the bristling U.S. arsenal. A world that's skeptical about the last superpower's intentions only gets more so when U.S. officials push unconvincing lines about the world's deadliest weapons. So here are a few myths about the U.S. nuclear posture of which the administration seems particularly fond.
1. The U.S. nuclear stockpile is the smallest since the Eisenhower administration.
A recent statement from Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman touts Bush administration "reductions in the nuclear stockpile" that "will result in the lowest level since the Eisenhower Administration." Well yes, but one might infer that the number of U.S. nuclear weapons is rather small, perhaps around a thousand or so. Not quite.
We haven't seen such low levels since the Truman administration. When Dwight D. Eisenhower left office in January 1961 -- not a particularly warm period of the Cold War -- the U.S. stockpile had swelled to almost 19,000 nuclear weapons. The United States stayed above Eisenhower levels until 1991, when President George H.W. Bush wisely slashed the unnecessarily large stockpile of tactical battlefield nukes.
A more relevant marker is 1,200 nuclear weapons, the size of the nuclear stockpile when Ike took over from Truman. Compared with that measure, the Bush-era reductions, although welcome, look much less impressive. According to administration statements, the United States in 2012 will still have 5,000-6,000 nuclear weapons, with about a third of those remaining on Cold War levels of alert. |
America should drastically reduce its amount of nuclear weapons. They are expensive, and their deterrent value transforms into an affirmative threat at current existing levels.
But here's the Bush administration's dirty little secret: they are keeping up the Cold War strategy. Reagan's (ultimately successful) gambit was to increase our nuclear stockpile in a race against the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union in the end could not hope to match our stockpile, because maintainance costs begin to dwarf new production costs. Now, the Bush administration is keeping levels high to pre-emptively win any new arms races. IOW, the Bush administration is counting on Iranian, North Korean nuclear proliferation, and banking that these countries will not be able to win a nuclear race.
What the Bush administration should do is lower the deterrant strength and reduce the cost of nuclear warhead maintainance to the American people. Costs saved can go towards expenses in dismantling existing stockpiles all over the world, re: Lugar-Obama initiative. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Fishead soup
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Location: Korea
|
| Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 7:29 pm Post subject: |
|
|
How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.
"We need Nuclear weapons because having them makes peace more secure".
Margarate Thatcher |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Justin Hale
Joined: 24 Nov 2007
Location: the Straight Talk Express
|
| Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 4:27 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Fishead soup wrote: |
How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.
"We need Nuclear weapons because having them makes peace more secure".
Margarate Thatcher |
Absolutely right. Good old Maggie.
Royal Navy ships contained nukes during the Falklands. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
