From The Progressive
By Amitabh Pal

Are they for real?

If we go by their pronouncements, both Barack Obama and John McCain will represent a sea change from the current Administration when it comes to nuclear weapons.

In a speech July 16, Obama said that, if elected, he would “make the goal of eliminating all nuclear weapons a central element in our nuclear policy.” He was unequivocal. “It’s time,” he said, “to send a clear message to the world: America seeks a world with no nuclear weapons.”

He has sounded this theme before. Last October, he proposed at a speech at DePaul University that the world rid itself of nuclear arms and that the United States set the course by sharply reducing its arsenal.

What is more surprising is that McCain also has good proposals on the subject, although he doesn’t go as far down the road as Obama. McCain advocated in a speech in May that the United States negotiate a treaty with Russia to eliminate tactical nuclear weapons from Europe and that it talk with China to halt the production of nuclear material. He also suggested revisiting the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (which the Bush Administration has sidelined) and conferring with Russia about the two countries notifying each other on missile launches and sharing early warning data. He even invoked JFK and Reagan on the need to eliminate nuclear weapons, though he didn’t quite come out and say that he would do that himself if he were President.

Still, wow! Both the candidates are outlining far-reaching measures on such an important subject. So much so that John Isaacs, head of the Council for a Livable World, a progressive disarmament group, feels that there isn’t much difference between the two candidates on this issue. “We’ll have major progress on nuclear issues no matter who is elected,” he says.

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