Council for a Livable World

Political action to reduce nuclear threats

  • Elections
    • Senate Victories
    • House Victories
    • Political Analysis
    • Who We’ve Helped Elect
  • Legislation
    • Key National Security Legislation
    • National Security Legislative Calendar
    • Legislative Achievements
  • Take Action
    • Avoiding Oppenheimer’s Nuclear Nightmare in Our Current Reality
    • Twin Threats: Climate Change and Nuclear War
    • Issues
    • Join Our Email List
    • Become a Member
  • About
    • Staff
    • Press
    • Newsletter
    • Boards & Experts
    • Jobs & Internships
    • Financials and Annual Reports
    • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Search
You are here: Home / Press Room / Council in the News / Washington Post Publishes Letter to the Editor on Nuclear Reductions by Chairman Ira Lechner

June 27, 2013

Washington Post Publishes Letter to the Editor on Nuclear Reductions by Chairman Ira Lechner

Nuclear weapons lose their relevancy

In their June 23 op-ed column “Obama is pursuing nuclear folly,� Eric Edelman and Robert Joseph accuse President Obama of a “quixotic quest� to eliminate the United States’ nuclear weapons and suggest that the Defense Department “cooked� a recent study to support Mr. Obama’s radical disarmament agenda. But the president’s nuclear policies are not radical or quixotic, nor is the study that inspired them.

The Defense Department found that nuclear weapons are less relevant to 21st-century national security needs. This should not be so surprising. In an age of unmanned drones and cyberwarfare, one hardly needs to cook the books to come to the conclusion that nuclear weapons are becoming less important.

It is easier to sling attacks than to consider actual strategic realities. But today, nuclear weapons absorb scarce defense dollars without providing much “defense� in return. Mr. Obama is right to refocus our resources on more useful defenses.

Ira Lechner, Washington

The writer is a chairman of Council for a Livable World.

To see the article on The Washington Post website, click here.

Posted in: Council in the News

Recent Posts

  • An Early Look at the 2026 Senate Elections May 9, 2025
  • Shawn Rostker: ‘Quiet diplomacy is likely happening, even if the public posture is more restrained’ May 7, 2025
  • Council: Front and Center: April 21, 2025 April 21, 2025
  • Council: Front and Center: March 22, 2025 March 22, 2025
  • STATEMENT ON TRUMP-ZELENSKYY OVAL OFFICE MEETING February 28, 2025
Council for a Livable World logo

820 1st Street NE, Suite LL-180
Washington, D.C. 20002
Phone: 202.543.4100

Elections

  • Meet The Candidates
  • Senate Candidates
  • House Candidates
  • Who We’ve Helped Elect

Legislation

  • Key National Security Legislation
  • National Security Legislative Calendar
  • Legislative Achievements

Take Action

  • Issues
  • Join Our Email List
  • Become a Member

About

  • History & Mission
  • Staff
  • Press
  • Newsletter
  • Boards & Experts
  • Jobs & Internships
  • Financials and Annual Reports
  • Contact Us
  • Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

© 2025 Council for a Livable World
Privacy Policy