Joe Cirincione on WHYY Radio: “Preventing a nuclear 9/11 has got to be the number one national security priority of the next President.” Cirincione, President of the Ploughshares Fund, was interviewed October 20 by WHYY's Marty Ross-Coane. More excerpts:
* * * “I think we're seeing one of the most dramatic national security moments in my lifetime. And it's not about starting a war or ending a war–it's about ending the Cold War posture of nuclear weapons. It's about fundamentally transforming U.S. nuclear weapons policy and with it the nuclear policies of the world.”
* * * “How can we convince other nations not to acquire nuclear weapons if the most powerful military nation the world has ever known–the United States–says that WE need nuclear weapons for our security? It's just not going to work. It's like trying to get your kids to stop smoking when you have a 2 pack-a-day habit. So you have to set the standard. The United States in particular — but with Russia –has to be setting the standard for reducing the political saliency of these weapons, for reducing the military saliency of these weapons.
And there is huge support for this among the retired and active military. Military guys know that these weapons are almost useless — that we're not going to use these weapons except under the most dire circumstances. So there's tremendous support for reducing the number of these weapons, for reducing the cost associated with these weapons — we spend $54 billion a year to maintain our nuclear weapons and nuclear-related weapons — and to use that money for other purposes.
So you see this developing among realists, among the military–a very practical approach to why the United States has to get serious about eliminating nuclear weapons.”
If you'd like, you can download and listen to the whole interview.