It's Kind of in the Middle of the Speech...

by CKR

I'm wondering if Barack Obama really means this:

That’s why I’ve worked with Republican Senator Dick Lugar to pass a law accelerating our pursuit of loose nuclear materials. And that’s why I’ll lead a global effort to secure all loose nuclear materials during my first term in office.

But we need to do much more. We need to change our nuclear policy and our posture, which is still focused on deterring the Soviet Union – a country that doesn’t exist. Meanwhile, India and Pakistan and North Korea have joined the club of nuclear-armed nations, and Iran is knocking on the door. More nuclear weapons and more nuclear-armed nations mean more danger to us all.

Here’s what I’ll say as President: America seeks a world in which there are no nuclear weapons.

We will not pursue unilateral disarmament. As long as nuclear weapons exist, we’ll retain a strong nuclear deterrent. But we’ll keep our commitment under the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty on the long road towards eliminating nuclear weapons. We’ll work with Russia to take U.S. and Russian ballistic missiles off hair-trigger alert, and to dramatically reduce the stockpiles of our nuclear weapons and material. We’ll start by seeking a global ban on the production of fissile material for weapons. And we’ll set a goal to expand the U.S.-Russian ban on intermediate-range missiles so that the agreement is global.

As we do this, we’ll be in a better position to lead the world in enforcing the rules of the road if we firmly abide by those rules. It’s time to stop giving countries like Iran and North Korea an excuse. It’s time for America to lead. When I’m President, we’ll strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty so that nations that don’t comply will automatically face strong international sanctions.

It's sandwiched between many, many more words on Obama's being against the Iraq war before everyone else and on not being cynical. Now we've heard all that before. If he really means this little diversion about nuclear policy, that should be the news in this speech.

Or maybe it's just a trial balloon that will be fleshed out if not too many people shoot at it and if there was some applause. It does need to be fleshed out; what he said is pretty much common wisdom in the nonproliferation community. Is he accepting that common wisdom or would he prefer a waffle? Or does he even have some new ideas? How would he go about doing some of those things? Talk? Or more?

Let us know, Mr. Obama. And don't bury the news.

Many thanks to Cernig for digging this gem out.