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May 28, 2008
John McCain on Nuclear Security
DENVER, Colorado (CNN)
The United States should scrap a significant portion of its nuclear arsenal, Sen. John McCain said Tuesday in a speech laying out his nuclear security policy.
McCain also spoke about canceling the development of nuclear "bunker-busting" bombs and working with Russia and China to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
"Today, we deploy thousands of nuclear warheads. It is my hope to move as rapidly as possible to a significantly smaller force," the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said at the University of Denver.
"The United States cannot and will not stop the spread of nuclear weapons by unilateral action," he said. "As powerful as we are, America's ability to defend ourselves and our allies against the threat of nuclear attack depends on our ability to encourage effective international cooperation."
The GOP candidate voiced support for the U.N. Security Council and International Atomic Energy Agency as well as an updated Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"We also need to reverse the burden of proof when it comes to discovering whether a nation is cheating on its NPT commitments. The IAEA shouldn't have to play cat-and-mouse games to prove a country is in compliance," he said.
The speech elaborated on a nuclear policy McCain outlined in a foreign policy address two months ago.
It was noticeably more conciliatory toward Russia than the one in March, when McCain proposed ejecting the country from the Group of Eight nations. McCain also did not mention the United Nations in his March speech.
McCain gave qualified support to an international treaty banning the testing of nuclear weapons, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which he opposed in the Senate in 1999.
And he proposed an "international repository for spent nuclear fuel" to keep the raw ingredients for nuclear bombs from falling into the wrong hands.
"It is even possible that such an international center could make it unnecessary to open the proposed spent nuclear fuel storage facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada," McCain said, referring to a controversial project in the Southwest.
Randy Scheunemann, a senior foreign policy and national security advisor to the McCain campaign, said later that the repository could be in Siberia and that if there were sufficient security guarantees, McCain had a "willingness to entertain possibility ... that we could possibly send some of our spent fuel there."
Reacting to the speech, a spokesman for Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic front-runner, said that the substance of it mirrored Obama's positions but that McCain has no track record of leading on the issue.
And this from ABC News
McCain's claim that he was departing from Bush's policy was supported, albeit with qualifications, by an unlikely source: Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del.
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has been an outspoken critic of McCain. But Biden acknowledged Tuesday that McCain’s nuclear security speech contained "many ideas that suggest a welcome departure from the Bush Administration’s hostility to arms control."
While praising McCain's pledge to work with Russia on nuclear arsenal reduction, Biden maintained that McCain's policy has some "critical gaps," particularly on the issues of Iran and North Korea.
Wild Thing's comment........
OH Great, now he’s channeling Kissinger.
Hey, I know... Iran is trying so hard to get Nukes, and since we’re gonna get rid of them, why not just hand them over to Iran? That way, we get rid of them, and they can have what they covet so greatly!
sheesh!
He voiced explicit support for the U.N. Security Council and International Atomic Energy Agency as well as an updated Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Yeah, that's the ticket. Let's rely on the UN.
Should we just cut to the chase and start Armageddon?! My gosh!
John McCain is NOT Ronald Reagan!! What Reagan did worked with the Soviet union. The Great Man, President Ronald Reagan, took a few threes and turned them into a royal flush, Gorbachev bought it, and thus Star Wars actually became reality...twenty years later, AND Mr. Gorbachev DID tear down that wall. BUT that was a different time and a different war, we were not at war with Islam. And Reagan and McCain are polar opposites in too many ways to even put here.
But Biden acknowledged Tuesday that McCain’s nuclear security speech contained "many ideas that suggest a welcome departure from the Bush Administration’s hostility to arms control."
Well, if its good enough for Hairplugs Biden, no worries from me.
HERE is McCain's full text of his speech in Denver.
John McCain's website
Posted by Wild Thing at May 28, 2008 02:47 AM
Comments
John McPain is a moron! He is truly showing his Rino butt to the world. We need to keep the nuclear program going until we've come up with something to replace it with. Why is it they are all so gung ho to make us vulnerable to those who would want to rule us with an iron fist?
And you know that's what would happen. We get rid of our nukes and here they'll come--one by one to take a piece of us.
I swear I'm smarter than all three of them put together. McPain is making Looney Paul look intelligent! That's not good.
Posted by: Lynn at May 28, 2008 05:10 AM
Lynn,
I totally agree. With both China and Russia building up their military and the further threat of Iran why would anyone advocate shrinking the ability of the US to defend itself. We also have the continuing Muslim determination to take down the west. We can coexist with both China and Russia and sooner or later they will wake up and see that they are not immune to Islamist hatred and domination. I'm surprised that Russia has not realized this already, considering the Beslan school incident.
Posted by: Bob at May 28, 2008 08:11 AM
"Crazy John" now suggests we send spent nuclear fuel to Siberia. The Russians already have trouble securing their nuclear weapons.
I hope he is just campaigning and saying things he expects certain audiences to like. We know McCain will lie in a New York minute. The only thing I support about McCain would be his military stance and if he is about to go Liberal on that, well, then I have no reason to vote for him.
Then I think of how horrible Obama would be for America and realize I still have to vote for Crazy John. All I can do is hope for better choices in 2012.
Posted by: TomR at May 28, 2008 10:06 AM
You all know what they say about opinions, heres mine: Thanks to John F Kennedy and The United States Program For General and Complete disarmament In a Peaceful World, Department Of State Publication 7277 , John 'PT109' Kennedy signed away our nukes in a wholesale arms disarmament agreement to the UN when he was president back in 1961.
John McCain being a good Democrat is just honoring his obligation to the UN and John Kennedy's wishes. McCain is ignoring two important dates, between October 15, 1962 and October 28, 1962, that he, if president might have to revisit with his beloved Iranians and their Russian supporter. Deja Vu.
John Kennedy's baby brother is a truest representation of the real character and motives of the clan and the party.
Some of the readers here are young enough to remember those two weeks in October of '62 as a few were of draft age at the time and for sure a few were in the service. It was real, up front and serious. The UN was a powerless Eunuch then and it's even worse today because it has been infiltrated with our national enemies. Vote for McCain if you will.
Bob Barr just tossed his hat in the arena as a presidential candidate, I personally don't like the guy, he's an ACLU lawyer, I don't know if he's a CFR or TLC member but I haven't heard him say or do anything anti-United States. Nor do I believe he'll capitulate to the UN. Yet again, there isn't a single one of the mealy-mouthed liars on capitol hill that I trust.
Posted by: Jack at May 28, 2008 12:23 PM
This harkens me back to a horrible little miniseries called AMERIKA where the soviets took us without firing a shot. Except it will be the Muslims, not the Soviets if we disarm. Is this what we want?
Posted by: Lynn at May 28, 2008 02:56 PM
Lynn, I think you sure are smarter then the three of them put together and you also for sure love America more then all three of them too.
Posted by: Wild Thing at May 28, 2008 05:56 PM
Bob, yep they want the USA to be weak and John McCain better be careful what his agenda is because some things can never be turned around once they are put in to play.
Posted by: Wild Thing at May 28, 2008 05:59 PM
I just posted about a new video, Nuclear Jihad. The video is not on my site but you can access it through the link and it is in 4 parts on youtube.
Bob
Posted by: Bob at May 28, 2008 05:59 PM
Tom yes that is the thing too, how much of what he says is to cater to the left his buddies for votes and how much is what he really plans to do.
Posted by: Wild Thing at May 28, 2008 06:02 PM
Jack thanks for the links and the information.I was 14 during that time but I do remember it no wait I was 15. hahahha
Regarding Bob Barr, my biggest gripe with him is like you said the ACLU he is one of the all time favorite lawyers and also he was totally against the Patriot Act. He sure has changed over the years, he used to be one of the good guys.
Posted by: Wild Thing at May 28, 2008 06:10 PM
Lynn, yes and I remember that series too.
Posted by: Wild Thing at May 28, 2008 06:11 PM
Bob thanks I will go there right now.
Posted by: Wild Thing at May 28, 2008 06:12 PM
