Kerry
Pledges to Give
Nuclear Terrorism Top Priority
By
David
Krieger
President, Nuclear Age Peace
Foundation
TFF
associate
June 14, 2004
In his speech, "New Strategies to
Meet New Threats," delivered in West Palm Beach, Florida
on June 1, 2004, John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic
Party nominee for President, referred to the possibility
of nuclear terrorism as "the greatest threat we face
today," and offered a program to eliminate this threat
based on US leadership. Kerry promised to prevent
nuclear weapons or materials to create them from falling
into the hands of al Qaeda or other extremist
organizations. "As President," he pledged, "my number one
security goal will be to prevent the terrorists from
gaining weapons of mass murder, and ensure that hostile
states disarm."
Kerry recognizes that the US cannot
accomplish this task by itself and pledged to build and
repair coalitions. "We can't eliminate this threat on our
own," he stated. "We must fight this enemy in the same
way we fought in World War I, World War II, and the Cold
War, by building and leading strong alliances."
In order to confront nuclear
terrorism, Kerry offered a four-step plan.
His first step called for
safeguarding all bomb-making materials worldwide.
He called for an approach that would "treat all nuclear
materials needed for bombs as if they were bombs," and
pledged to secure all potential bomb material in the
former Soviet Union within his first term as president.
"For a fraction of what we have already spent in Iraq,"
he pointed out, "we can ensure that every nuclear weapon,
and every pound of potential bomb material will be
secured and accounted for."
Kerry's second step called for US
leadership to verifiably ban the creation of new
materials for creating nuclear weapons, including
production of plutonium and highly-enriched
uranium. He pointed out that there is strong
international support for such a ban, but that the Bush
Administration has been "endlessly reviewing the need for
such a policy.
Kerry's third step called for
reducing excess stocks of nuclear materials and
weapons. He recognized the importance of the US
adopting policies consistent with what we are asking
other countries to do. He asked rhetorically, "If America
is asking the world to join our country in a shared
mission to reduce this nuclear threat, then why would the
world listen to us if our own words do not match our
deeds?" In line with this commitment, Kerry promised that
as president, he would "stop this administration's
program to develop a whole new generation of
bunker-busting nuclear bombs." He called the
bunker-buster "a weapon we don't need," one that
"undermines our credibility in persuading other
nations.
The fourth step in Kerry's plan
called for ending the nuclear weapons programs in other
countries, such as North Korea and Iran. He called for
strengthening the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,
strengthening enforcement and verification through the
International Atomic Energy Agency, and tightening export
controls to assure no future black market activities in
nuclear materials.
In order to accomplish these goals,
Kerry pledged to appoint a National Coordinator for
Nuclear Terrorism and Counter-Proliferation to work with
him "to marshal every effort and every ally, to combat an
incalculable danger." Kerry made clear that "preventing
nuclear terrorism is our most urgent priority to provide
for America's long term security."
President Bush has also called for
steps to prevent nuclear terrorism, but in a number of
respects Kerry's position on nuclear terrorism is
stronger than that of the current administration.
First, and most important, Kerry pledges to end the
double standard of calling on others not to develop
nuclear weapons while the US moves forward with research
on new nuclear weapons, such as the bunker buster.
Research on the bunker buster, as well as on lower yield,
more usable nuclear weapons, has been an important aspect
of the Bush Administration's nuclear policy.
Second, Kerry pledges to gain
control of the nuclear materials in the former Soviet
Union at a far more rapid rate than that of the Bush
Administration. Third, Kerry promises to appoint a
Nuclear Terrorism Coordinator to work with him in the
White House in overseeing this effort. Finally, Kerry
calls for taking prompt action on a verifiable ban on the
creation of new fissile materials for nuclear weapons, a
step long supported by the international community and
nearly all US allies, but never before acted upon by the
US.
Both Bush and Kerry have called for
strengthening the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but
only in relation to preventing nuclear materials from
civilian nuclear reactors from being converted to nuclear
weapons. Neither Bush nor Kerry has set forth a
plan to fulfill US obligations for nuclear disarmament
under Article VI of the treaty. This is a major
omission since the nuclear disarmament requirement of the
treaty is a foundational element, and without US
leadership to achieve this obligation it may be
impossible to prevent nuclear terrorism.
"We must lead this effort not just
for our own safety," Kerry stated, "but for the good of
the world." Kerry is certainly right that the world
now needs US leadership on this critical issue. This
leadership must include a dramatic reduction in the size
of nuclear arsenals on the way to their total
elimination, as agreed to by the parties to the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, in order to prevent the nuclear
warheads from being available to terrorist organizations.
If any leader of the United States
is truly serious about preventing nuclear proliferation
and nuclear terrorism, he must realize that nuclear
disarmament is an essential element of the equation.
Kerry posited the equation: "No material. No bomb. No
terrorism." That equation must be expanded to include:
"No material. No bombs &endash; period. Not in anyone's
hands."
There are no good or safe hands in
which to place nuclear weapons. In the end, to
eliminate the threat of nuclear terrorism will require
more than attempting to prevent nuclear proliferation; it
will require the elimination of all nuclear weapons, a
goal agreed to by the United States, United Kingdom and
former Soviet Union in 1968 when they signed on to the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
©
TFF & the author 2004
Tell a friend about this article
Send to:
From:
Message and your name
|