Monday on Just Peace: Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence J. Korb on the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty

Monday on Just Peace: Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence J. Korb on the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty


Just Peace
Mondays, 6pm - 7pm EST ----- WRFG-Atlanta 89.3 FM
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Join us tonight at 6pm on Just Peace, as we talk with former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence J. Korb about the upcoming vote on ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). Georgia's own Senator Isakson will be a participant in the vote this Thursday, as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The New START treaty will reduce both American and Russian nuclear arsenals left over from the Cold War and go a long way towards demonstrating leadership with Russia as a role model for checking nuclear proliferation in other countries around the world. If passed on Thursday, ratification of the New START treaty would proceed to the full Senate for a vote. U.S. President Obama and Russia's President Medvedev originally signed the New START treaty in Prague this past April, but it must be ratified to go into effect.

Larry J. Korb was Assistant Secretary of Defense during the Reagan administration. He is a strong proponent of New START. As he states in his recent article, "Following the Reagan Tradition on Arms Control" (see below), "While some have alleged that the New START treaty will inhibit missile defense, this claim has been strongly refuted by Republican elder statesmen in their Senate testimony on the treaty. Former Secretary of State James Baker stated plainly “There is, in fact, no restriction on the United States of America’s ability to move forward on missile defense in whatever way it wants.” Former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft was equally direct testifying, "The treaty is amply clear, it does not restrict us... I don't think there's substance to this argument. In fact, Baker and Scowcroft are joined in supporting the treaty by almost every senior Republican national security leader from the last three decades including Henry Kissinger, George Schultz, James Schlesinger, George W. Bush’s National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and the Senate’s foremost current expert on nuclear policy Sen. Lugar of Indiana. They are joined by leading Democratic national security leaders, such as former Defense Secretary William Perry and former Senator Nunn."

We will also talk tonight with Tracey-Ann Nelson, Executive Director of the Georgia League of Women Voters, and Bobbie Paul, Executive Director of Georgia WAND (Women's Action for New Directions).

Tune in and join the conversation! You can also listen on the web by going to our home page (http://www.wrfg.org/) and clicking on the "Listen Live" icon on the righthand side of the page. For more information about Just Peace, check out http://www.wrfg.org/features/shows/shows-desc.asp?showid=36.

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Heather Gray and Nadia Ali, Ph.D.
Co-producers, Just Peace
WRFG 89.3 FM
www.wrfg.org

(Heather Gray also writes for Counterpunch. Her articles can be found at www.counterpunch.org)


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Following the Reagan Tradition on Arms Control
By Lawrence Korb

When I worked as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Ronald Reagan the president demonstrated two particularly important characteristics.

While he was a strong advocate for national security and an unwavering opponent of communism, those values did not blind him to the opportunities that arose to negotiate with the Soviet Union and reduce the nuclear threat to the United States. And politically, while President Reagan was the leader of his party and a champion of Republican values, those positions never limited him from reaching across the aisle to work with Democratic leaders, like then-Senator Sam Nunn, especially if doing so meant that US national security could be improved as a result. These are values that would serve Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson well as they consider the New START treaty, which would reduce both American and Russian nuclear arsenals.

President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the “New START” treaty in Prague on April 8th and the United States Senate HAS now begun deliberations. The treaty would verifiably reduce each country’s nuclear arsenals to 1,500 warheads and 700 launchers - and there are clear security benefits to ratifying the treaty, and clear risks to failing to do so.

Verifiably reducing U.S. and Russian arsenals will increase US security both by kick-starting the process of reducing redundant weapons that are a deadly legacy of the Cold War and by adjusting US policy to meet the security challenges of the 21st century: proliferation and the threat of nuclear terrorism.

While reducing the number of nuclear weapons that can be aimed at the US and improving verification procedures are valuable in and of themselves, the treaty has other strategic benefits. During the Cold War the United States’ greatest danger was the nuclear arsenal of the Soviet Union, but today the greater threat is the prospect of unchecked nuclear proliferation, which would, in turn, increase the potential for nuclear terrorism. To combat this new security landscape, the US needs to play a leadership role working with Russia and other states whose cooperation will be essential. At their core, the threats of proliferation and nuclear terrorism can only be addressed by a multinational effort.

And this effort has already born fruit. Improving relations with Russia by reviving the arms control agenda unquestionably contributed to Russia’s recent twin decisions to join with the US

in passing sanctions against Iran and cancel planned missile sales to the Iranian state. This type of cooperation is exactly what we need to advance our own national security.

While some have alleged that the New START treaty will inhibit missile defense, this claim has been strongly refuted by Republican elder statesmen in their Senate testimony on the treaty. Former Secretary of State James Baker stated plainly “There is, in fact, no restriction on the United States of America’s ability to move forward on missile defense in whatever way it wants.” Former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft was equally direct testifying, "The treaty is amply clear, it does not restrict us... I don't think there's substance to this argument."

In fact, Baker and Scowcroft are joined in supporting the treaty by almost every senior Republican national security leader from the last three decades including Henry Kissinger, George Schultz, James Schlesinger, George W. Bush’s National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and the Senate’s foremost current expert on nuclear policy Sen. Lugar of Indiana. They are joined by leading Democratic national security leaders, such as former Defense Secretary William Perry and former Senator Nunn.

Unfortunately, in the poisonous partisan atmosphere that dominates Washington these days, it appears likely that some Senators will oppose the New START Treaty either because they don’t want to give President Obama a “win” heading into the midterm elections or because of an illogical impulse to oppose or distrust something that the President support simply because he supports it.

These impulses are bad for America and harmful to our national security interests. The New START Treaty would be a “win” for America’s efforts to combat the emerging threats of the 21st Century, whether it happens on President Obama’s watch or not. That is the type of thing that Ronald Reagan had the wisdom to recognize and these were the types of opportunities that he seized.

I hope that Senators Chambliss and Isakson can follow in those footsteps.
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Korb is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. He served as Assistant Secretary of Defense during the Reagan administration.
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Copyright (C) 2010 by Georgia Forum. 6/10





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