Feinstein: Ratifying New START Should Be "An Easy Step" for the Senate

Today's top nuclear policy stories, with excerpts in bullet form.

Stories we're following today, Wednesday, May 5, 2010:

If Any Treaty Should Be Ratified, This is the One - Sen. Dianne Feinstein in The Huffington Post [link]

• The ink on the nuclear arms treaty signed in Prague by President Obama and Russian President Medvedev was barely dry before some senators warned they may vote against ratification for reasons that in fact have nothing to do with the treaty. This makes no sense.
• The new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty is a sensible effort to roll back the nuclear threat, in the tradition of John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.
• The agreement maintains a robust arsenal and is supported by the Defense Department's civilian and military leadership. Defense Secretary Gates said it "strengthens our nuclear stability."
• If any treaty should be ratified, it is this one. It should be an easy step for the Senate to take, a step that should be taken promptly.

Some Nuclear Sunshine - Joseph Cirincione and Benjamin Loehrke in Yes! Magazine [link]

• For the first time since America first tested a nuclear weapon 65 years ago, the government has disclosed how many nuclear weapons are in our active stockpile.
• The good news is that this action enhances U.S. credibility as President Obama presses to reduce all nuclear arsenals and move towards their eventual elimination.
• The bad news is that we now know for certain that we have 5,113 hydrogen bombs ready to use. One alone can destroy a city.
• Ten years ago, the members to the NPT specifically agreed on increased transparency in nuclear arsenals and disarmament efforts. A decade later, the U.S. is now finally delivering on that pledge.  This is a major step forward and an important part of efforts to restore U.S. credibility and legitimacy so badly damaged over the past ten years.

Why the U.N. Nukes Conference is Already Bad for Iran - Newsweek's The Gaggle Blog [link]

• The U.N. functions by consensus.  The real game, then, is getting enough support behind [a consensus] that any spoilers are marginalized in international diplomatic circles.
• If it turns out that Iran is the only impediment to a strengthened NPT, it would lend even more credence to the U.S. case for a fourth round of Security Council sanctions against Tehran.
• Judging by yesterday's opening speeches, that's exactly how the next month is going to go down. "Ahmadinejad starkly illustrated the fact that Iran, even if not in violation of the agreement, is outside the mainstream of thought," said Daryl Kimball, the head of the Arms Control Association, a Ploughshares Fund grantee.
• While the nuclear have-nots can (and do) still rail against the asymmetry between America's 5,113 nukes and their zero, it's harder for them to make the case now that the U.S. is putting in a good-faith effort toward disarmament.

Nuke-Free Mideast Idea Rises on Global Agenda - The Associated Press [link]

• The idea of establishing the region as a zone free of nuclear weapons has emerged as a central issue at the twice-a-decade conference reviewing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).
• It is rising higher on the agenda because Iran's ambitious and suspect nuclear program threatens to prompt other Mideast nations to develop their own weapons development. And an expected future shift toward nuclear power worldwide will put possibly sensitive technology in more hands.
• The United States, Israel's prime international backer, has long endorsed the idea of a Mideast zone, but has never pushed for action. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton [said on Monday that] Washington is now "prepared to support practical measures for moving toward that objective."
• Although Western diplomats privately express optimism about "something new" emerging here on a Mideast WMD-free zone, no one expects quick movement after the session toward a treaty. Embattled Israel has long maintained that a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace must first be reached before it would consider such a region-wide regime.

Obama Fetes Indonesia on Nuclear Treaty Move - Agence France Presse [link]

• US President Barack Obama on Tuesday praised Indonesia for "responsible leadership" after it announced at the United Nations that it would soon ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
• Earlier, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said his country hoped its decision "will be a positive incentive for other states to follow suit."
• Natalegawa said Jakarta was "initiating the process of ratification of the CTBT" in view of recent positive developments with respect to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation issues.