Why We Don't Want a Nuclear-Free World Melanie Kirkpatrick, The Wall Street Journal

Why We Don't Want a Nuclear-Free World
Melanie Kirkpatrick, The Wall Street Journal
Editor's Note: In an appearance on CNBC's morning show, Senator Sam Nunn responds to the following Wall Street Journal article, in which former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger is quoted as saying that the United States needs a strong deterrent and should keep its nuclear weapons "more or less in perpetuity." Senator Nunn said that while a strong US deterrent and nuclear umbrella are important, he fundamentally disagrees that the US should keep its nuclear weapons forever because "if we do that, you can toss the Non-Proliferation Treaty right out of the window, and you can toss cooperation around the globe out the window, and you will not be able to take the steps necessary to protect America from proliferation and from catastrophic nuclear terrorism."

'Nuclear weapons are used every day." So says former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger, speaking last month at his office in a wooded enclave of Maclean, Va. It's a serene setting for Doomsday talk, and Mr. Schlesinger's matter-of-fact tone belies the enormity of the concepts he's explaining -- concepts that were seemingly ignored in this week's Moscow summit between Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124726489588925407.html

* Senator Sam Nunn on CNBC's Squawk Box Morning Show
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/npp/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=23399