BOMBS  AWAY! Newsletter of the Lawyers’ Committee on Nuclear PolicyFall 2000 Vol. 13, No.1 |
| BOMBS AWAY! Newsletter of the Lawyers’ Committee on Nuclear PolicyFall 2000 Vol. 13, No.1 |
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| In This Issue:
US Elections Saving the NPT ICC & Nuclear Weapons 2000 NPT Review Millennium Summit Direct Action/Resist. Cases Marshall Islands Middle Powers Initiative The Uppsala Conference Notes of a Barefoot Diplomat Letters to NY Times Canada Tour NZ Considers Nuclear Ban CD Deadlock Continues Notable Books Select one of the articles above to view
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BOMBS AWAY! is the newsletter of the
Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP), a non-profit organization that engages in
legal and policy advocacy in support of nuclear disarmament in national and international
settings. Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy
Staff: John Burroughs (Executive Director)
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US Electionsby John Burroughs In a May press conference, George W. Bush criticized the Clinton Administration for remaining "locked in a Cold War mentality", said "the United States should remove as many [nuclear] weapons as possible from high-alert, hair-trigger status [which] may create unacceptable risks of accidental or unauthorized launch", and stated he would "pursue the lowest possible number [of nuclear weapons] consistent with our national security" regardless of the size of the Russian arsenal. "Our mutual security need no longer depend on a nuclear balance of terror," Bush averred. However, Bush also said that the extent of reduction would depend upon an assessment by the Pentagon. The Pentagon has always found it "needs" very large numbers, and future requirements for the START process are currently set at a minimum of 2000-2500 deployed strategic (long-range) warheads, plus thousands more tactical (short-range), spare, and reserve units. At present the United States has about 7,000 deployed strategic warheads, scheduled for reduction to 6,000 when START I is fully implemented. Absent Senate approval of START II, Congress has also purported to bar the president from deploying nuclear forces at levels lower than those authorized by START I. |
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