As Barack Obama continues to pretend that the U.S. is not at war with Jihadistan, our Dear Leader also continues to pretend that sacrificing our nuclear arsenal will make our adversaries and enemies play nice with us. As we detailed previously, Obama appears ready to slash U.S. nuclear capability with minimal, if any, Russian concessions, as a follow-up to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991.
It now seems that Obama is willing to let whatever remains of the U.S. nuclear stockpile rot in place after the new treaty, in spite of a little known 2009 report from a formal U.S. bipartisan commission that examined the safety and capabilities of the existing U.S. nuclear arsenal. The report noted that the U.S. needs new nuclear warheads and research facilities in order to maintain a credible nuclear deterrent. Unfortunately, Obama, wearing his utopian, antinuclear and rose-colored glasses, continues to oppose a new warhead program despite widespread support at the Pentagon, including the backing of Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Fortunately, the U.S. Senate, which would have to consent to any new arms treaty with at least 67 votes, has warned Obama that any new START treaty is NO GO unless the administration also agrees to a warhead modernization program. In a recent letter to the White House, 40 Republican Senators and Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman reminded the president that, under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010, any new START treaty legally requires the commander in chief to present a budget for modernizing U.S. nuclear forces. It’s nice to see that the Senate takes seriously its obligation to advise and consent on treaties, and that it’s also willing to warn Obama that, unless the administration ensures that any remaining nuclear weapons will work if needed, START II is DOA.
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