Stark difference in VP candidates

Rev. Robert Moore of Coalition for Peace Action
    I was struck by the stark difference between Sen. Biden and Gov. Palin in the Oct. 2 vice-presidential debate, particularly regarding their responses to the question on nuclear weapons issues.
   Gov. Palin said that dangerous regimes must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons, and that the U.S. used them in a “safe, stable way” as a deterrent. While it is true that dangerous regimes, possibly even terrorists, are trying to obtain nuclear weapons today, Gov. Palin’s pairing of her opposition to that with her apparent legitimization of U.S. nuclear weapons is at the heart of why her approach wouldn’t be effective.
   So long as there is an attitude that it is fine for the U.S. to keep tens of thousands of nuclear weapons, because we only use them for deterrence, there will be incentive for dangerous regimes and terrorist to try and obtain them. It is precisely this hypocritical double standard, that nuclear weapons are good for the U.S., but bad for everyone else, that drives nuclear proliferation.
   The world countered this hypocrisy in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), which all nations in the world except Israel, Pakistan, North Korea, and India are currently participants. Article 6 of the NPT obligates the nuclear haves to negotiate for the elimination of their arsenals, in return for the nuclear have-nots agreeing not to obtain nuclear weapons. Unfortunately,the U.S. hasn’t seriously tried to fulfill its obligations.
   In contrast, Sen. Biden pointed to his and Sen. Obama’s support for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). In 1995, there was a Review Conference of the NPT, in which the treaty was extended permanently beyond its 25-year initial period. A consensus was reached that the CTBT was the most important initial step toward fulfilling the obligations of the nuclear haves in the NPT toward stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
   Senators Biden and Obama have also publicly stated that they strongly support going beyond the CTBT toward negotiation of a verifiable treaty for the global abolition of nuclear weapons, as recently called for on a bipartisan basis by former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Schultz, former Defense Secretary William Perry, and former Senate Armed Services Chair Sam Nunn.
   It is only in pursuing initiatives toward banning nuclear weapons testing, and ultimately globally banning nuclear weapons themselves, that real safety from the nuclear danger can be found.
   For further information on candidate positions on nuclear disarmament, and other key peace issues, I encourage your readers to visit our web site, www.peacecoalition.org. or phone the Coalition for Peace Action office at (609) 924-5022.
The Rev. Robert Moore,
Executive Director
Coalition for Peace Action