Help Redefine U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy

Knowing that psychos like Kim Jong Il having nukes definitely can make you lose some sleep. But what we don’t talk about as much is the fact that lots of countries have nukes, including the UK, Russia, Pakistan, India, France, China, and possibly Israel. Most of these countries have nukes through the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT); the exceptions are India, North Korea, Pakistan, and Israel. These countries have run nuclear tests just as North Korea has.

And as much as we worry about that little nutjob in North Korea bombing the crap out of us, it’s the United States who has a gross amount of nuclear weapons. While Russia has the most nukes—with almost double the number of the active nuclear warheads the U.S. has—the United States still has more than all of the rest of the countries holding them combined. So who should be afraid of who?

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, “Nuclear weapons are a liability, not an asset. Not only do they not protect us from current threats like terrorism, but with some 20,000 warheads around the globe, there is enormous risk for accidents or for them to fall into the wrong hands.”

Sane minds know that peace can never be achieved while such monstrosities exist. In fact, following his contributions to the development of the Atomic Bomb, Albert Einstein deeply regretted his involvement. “I made one great mistake in my life,” he said, “when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made.”

President Obama recently said in Prague that “an end to Cold War thinking” is needed, and has agreed, along with Russian President Medvedev, to begin reducing the number of nuclear weapons we have—which is a fantastic statement. After all, we have to start somewhere, and less is definitely an improvement. But a reduction of weapons alone isn’t about to stop this Cold War mentality.

It’s up to us to call on President Obama and his administration to craft a new nuclear weapons policy that will lead us in the direction of peace. Click here to ask President Obama to take an active role in his administration’s Nuclear Posture Review, and to make sure that we start developing weapons policies that are focused more on promoting peace and discouraging their overall use rather than the Cold War mentality that he himself has said needs to go.