Council for a Livable World

Former Alaska Governor has said some crazy things over the years, but perhaps none so whacko as her recent comments on Fox about war with Iran . “Say he [Obama] decided to declare war on Iran,” she said on Fox News last week. “I think people would per…

While many people were rightly upset over a  recent piece in The Cable by Josh Rogin entitled “No ‘New START’ in 2010, Hill sources predict,” they may have overlooked some very important words by Arizona Senator John Kyl.

Kyl is the bête noire of those promoting a new nuclear reductions treaty and a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

He has sent a series of missives along with many of his colleagues raising issues such as nuclear weapons modernization and missile defense. He has also delivered a number of speeches on the same topics.

As the British would say, he is constantly throwing a spanner into the works (i.e., monkey wrenches).  

But check out what kyl said in the recent Rogin story.

“Unless it is accompanied by a [nuclear] modernization program that satisfies the requirements of the secretary of defense, it would be very difficult for the Senate to support the new START treaty.”

If that is his gold standard, then he will get his wish — perhaps the gold, silver and bronze.

Defense Secretary Gates is one of the key architects of the Administration’s nuclear weapons policy as reflected in the recent Obama budget submission, the on-going Nuclear Posture Review and Vice President Biden’s recent OpEd in the Wall Street Journal.

Just last week, Secretary Gates introduced the Vice President at his National Defense University speech explaining the Administration’s nuclear weapons policy.  

Also there was State Department Under Secretary Ellen Tauscher, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright, National Nuclear Security Agency Administrator Thomas D’Agostino and other officials.

The message was clear:  The Obama nuclear policies are the Obama-Biden-Gates-Cartright-Tauscher-D’Agostino nuclear policies.

If Senator Kyl will only support New START if Gates is happy with the nuclear modernization program, then we have, in the immortal words of George Tenet, a slam dunk.

Kyl did not stop with that quote.

He went on to express  his concerns about Russian statements about missile defense.

But again, let’s look at the tape.

On nuclear modernization, he suggested it would be “very difficult for the Senate to support” the new treaty unless Gates concerns have been answered.

On Russian assertions, he used milder words such “very troubling” and “very damaging.”

In no event did Senator Kyl say he would oppose the new treaty — unless Gates is not a happy man.

Kyl clearly will continue throwing spanners into the works.

But pay close attention to his words. He continues to stop short of outright opposition to the new START treaty.

President Obama has finally achieved the bipartisanship for which he has been virtually begging since his agenda collapsed in Congress in the first year of his term. And the Republican partisan who showed him the way was former Vice President Richard C…

Vice President Biden’s speech speech today at the National Defense University was an important part of the Obama Administration’s campaign to promote its nuclear weapons agenda.

The Vice President was introduced at the event by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.  Also in the audience was Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General James Cartwright as well as Under Secretary of State Ellen Tauscher and National Nuclear Security Agency Director Thomas D’Agostino.

The clear message:  this speech was a Big Deal and the government is united behind the President’s agenda.

This speech followed the Vice President Wall Street Journal OpEd a couple of weeks ago and both are part of the long-awaited Administration offensive.

Today, the Vice President opened by citing President’s Obama’s Prague speech:

Last April, in Prague, President Obama laid out his vision for protecting our country from nuclear threats. He made clear we will take concrete steps toward a world without nuclear weapons, while retaining a safe, secure, and effective arsenal as long as we still need it. We will work to strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. And we will do everything in our power to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons to terrorists and also to states that don’t already possess them.

Biden also gave a strong shout-out for the new nuclear reductions treaty being negotiated by the U.S. and Russia:

As I speak, U.S. and Russian negotiators are completing an agreement that will reduce strategic weapons to their lowest levels in decades.  Its verification measures will provide confidence its terms are being met.  These reductions will be conducted transparently and predictably. The new START treaty will promote strategic stability and bolster global efforts to prevent proliferation by showing that the world’s leading nuclear powers are committed to reducing their arsenals.

He began the follow-through on the President’s commitment to launch a vigorous campaign to win a new vote on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty based on the fact that the concerns raised a decade ago have been addressed:

The last piece of the President’s agenda from Prague was the ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty . . .  We are confident that all reasonable concerns raised about the treaty back then – concerns about verification and the reliability of our own arsenal – have now been addressed. The test ban treaty is as important as ever.

As with his Wall Street Journal piece, Biden spent a lot of time extolling the Administration’s increased budget allocation for the nuclear weapons complex.  He pointed to the Administration’s recent budget request that includes $7 billion for maintaining our nuclear stockpile and modernizing our nuclear infrastructure —  $624 million more than Congress approved last year – and an increase of $5 billion over the next five years.

He also praised the nuclear weapons laboratories as “national treasures.” He lamented that in recent years the nuclear weapons complex has been neglected and underfunded.

The funding increase and the exaltation of the labs is part of the Administration’s campaign to assuage concerns in the United States Senate, which must produce 67 votes to approve both nuclear treaties, about the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.  

Arms control opponents claim that U.S. nuclear weapons have atrophied over the years despite substantial evidence to the contrary – including the recent Jason’s report. The Obama Administration is determined to ensure that the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile will remain safe, reliable and effective.  

Thus it can be argued that it may be politically necessary to add money for the nuclear weapons complex.  Some of us would prefer that the additional money be spent on nuclear weapons dismantlement as well as verification and detection work and improving safeguards technology for civilian nuclear power plants.

Overall, it was a good performance for a campaign that must be expanded in order to win Senate approval of the nuclear reductions treaty and the test ban treaty.