Experts Applaud New Direction In Nuclear Policy

By Justine Rellosa-Talk Radio News Service

A number of experts applauded the direction the Obama administration is taking in their nuclear policy during a conference call hosted by the Center for American Progress Tuesday.

“[The new guidelines] state that the U.S will not develop new nuclear warheads, and use only nuclear components based on previously tested designs,” said former British Defense Minister, Des Brown. “That’s extremely important for us here in the United Kingdom because we anticipate in the next parliament that we will have to make the decision about the future of our own nuclear warheads.”

The policies, contained in the administration's Congressionally mandated Nuclear Policy Review, outlines a significant change in the U.S government’s position on the use of nuclear weapons. The U.S. stance is now revised to emphasize the prevention of nuclear proliferation and terrorism. It also outlines the U.S agreement to withdraw from using weapons of mass destruction against any non-nuclear country that has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The release of the review comes just days before President Barack Obama is scheduled to sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Prague.

Associate Director of Russia and Eurasia at CAP, Samuel Charap, praised the move to stabilize relations with Russia.

“We’ve gone a long way in being able to discuss some issues that are crucial for the security of both the United States, Russia, and the rest of the world. They have sort of set the groundwork both for a broadening of the relationship between the U.S and Russia, and a deepening of the relationship on arms control and nuclear security issues,” said Charap.

In the political realm, START has bipartisan support from various former Repubican national security officials, according to Max Bergmann, a Policy Analyst of nuclear non-proliferation at CAP.

“[Former Secretaries of State] Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, George Schultz and Senator Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), have stated their support for the ratification," said Bergmann.

White House Reaches Agreement With Russia On START

President Barack Obama announced Friday that he will head to Prague on April 8 to sign a new arms control agreement with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev. The new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the U.S. and Russia is an attempt by the two nations to limit the spread of nuclear weapons worldwide.

"Since I took office, I’ve been committed to a “reset” of our relationship with Russia. When the United States and Russia can cooperate effectively, it advances the mutual interests of our two nations, and the security and prosperity of the wider world...Today, we have reached agreement on one of my administration’s top national security priorities -- a pivotal new arms control agreement," said Mr. Obama during brief remarks in the White House.

The President spoke via telephone with Medvedev shortly before the announcement. According to White House officials, the conversation marked the 14th meeting or phone call between the two leaders. Mr. Obama was joined in the briefing room by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen.

Under the new treaty, both nations would agree to cut their stock of nuclear warheads by 30 percent. Mrs. Clinton said the deal symbolized the ushering of a new era in relations between the U.S. and Russia.

“The START treaty, it says to our country the Cold War really is behind us and these massive nuclear arsenals that both of our countries maintained as part of deterrence no longer have to be so big."

Sec. of State Clinton Previews U.S. Agenda For U.N. General Assembly

By Ravi Bhatia, Talk Radio News Service

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed Friday the U.S agenda for the upcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), touching on issues such as the Obama administration’s missile defense strategy, the conflict in the Middle East, nuclear proliferation and the threat posed by Iran.

While she read her speech at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C., she discussed the “ambitious” intentions of the Obama administration at next week’s UNGA in New York, and alluded to a long term goal of a world “with no nuclear weapons.” While fielding questions, she reflected on the state of American foreign policy today.

“For many years, [the U.S] outsourced our policy and concerns about the nuclear program to others to try to intervene with and persuade Iran to change course,” she said. “So we were on the sidelines...we were just trying to figure out how to get other people to go on the field and deal with this problem and look where we are today. We’re really nowhere.”

Clinton also discussed the Obama administration’s missile defense strategy, which was retooled to focus on defending the United States and its allies in Europe from short and mid-range missile attacks. The strategy rejects the Bush administration's plan to station interceptors in the Czech Republic and Poland that were intended to stop long-range missiles that the current administration believes Iran does not have. Since Poland and the Czech Republic will no longer have land-based interceptors, the new plan eases pressure on Russia, displeasing some Republican members of Congress upon Obama’s announcement of the strategy on Thursday.

“This decision was not about Russia,” she said. “It was about Iran and the threat its ballistic missile program poses. Because of this position, we believe we will be in a far stronger position to deal with that threat and to do so with technology that works and a higher degree of confidence that what we pledge to do we can actually deliver.”

She later discussed Iran and the repercussions the country must face for not revealing its intentions to the international community for nuclear technology.

“Our concern is not Iran’s right to develop peaceful nuclear energy, but its responsibility to demonstrate that it’s program is intended exclusively for peaceful purposes,” she said. “This is not hard to do. The Iranian government seeks a sense of justice in the world, but stands in the way of the justice it seeks.”

In response to a question from Brookings Institute President Strobe Talbott, Clinton also discussed the U.S. government’s strategy for restructuring the country’s health care policy.

“It’s interesting that what we are proposing is fundamentally so conservative compared with so many of our friends and allies around the world, who do a much better job then we do in covering everybody and keeping costs down,” Clinton said. “And yet some of the political opposition is so overheated. We have to calm down here, take two aspirin, go to bed, think about it in the morning. But I’m optimistic.”

Gingrich: We Are At The Edge Of A Catastrophe

The United States needs a dramatic increase in defense spending as well as a massive overhaul of its national security decision-making process in order to avoid a catastrophe, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Monday.

“[We need] a national security budget and a homeland security budget driven by meeting the capabilities of our opponents, not by meeting their intentions. We are today running very big risks in the name of saving a few billion dollars that may end up killing several million Americans. The time to fix that is before the disaster happens,” said Gingrich.

He described several threats to national security such as nuclear, biological, and cyber attacks, as well as electromagnetic pulse attacks that could wipe out most of the country’s electrical structure. Gingrich stated that the U.S., like Japan, should start militarizing outer space in order to protect the massive amounts of communication technology orbiting the Earth.

Gingrich also criticized the federal government's inability to act decisively and quickly, explaining that bureaucracy hinders the country's ability to move at the speed of the modern world or sustain its defense system.

“We have been the most fortunate generation in history...We are still today the richest, freest, and safest people in the history of the world. That will only remain true if we have the courage, the discipline, and the foresight to insist on the kind of changes we need in order to maintain safety as the highest single value of the American people, a base on which you can then build prosperity and freedom,” said Gingrich.

Russia's Help Needed To Combat Global Conflicts, Says European Affairs Official

By Michael Combier-Talk Radio News Service

In the midst of a global crisis, two wars and nuclear threats, it is crucial that the United States reinforce its relationships with its European allies, especially Russia said Philip H. Gordon, assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. Gordon's remarks came during testimony he issues in front of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Gordon argued that the United States should put its past difficulties with Russia "behind us to the extent possible." However, in a reference to last July's conflict between Georgia and Russia, Gordon said that the U.S. "will not abandon our principles or ignore concerns about democracy and human rights...We don't recognize any privilege sphere of influence for Russia in Europe [and] we will also continue to support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia's neighbors."

"The U.S. and Russia can still work together where our interests coincide while seeking to narrow our differences in an open and mutually respectful way."

Said Gordon, "the greatest success we have in preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, the less there is a need for a missile defense system in Europe. If that threat goes away, the need for the system also goes away," adding that a nuclear North Korea and nuclear Iran also pose great threats to Russia's security as well.

Four members of the French Parliament were present in the audience during the hearing.