Political Quotes

“I would like to call the attention of my colleagues to a column published in the April 23rd edition of The Washington Post by Dr. Henry Kissinger and retired GEN Brent Scowcroft. These are two of the most respected voices on nuclear strategy, deterrence, and arms control, and they both recently testified on the New START treaty. The article, titled ``Strategic Stability in Today's Nuclear World,'' comes at an important time. The President, we know, has tasked his advisors to conduct an assessment of our nuclear forces and strategy to inform future arms reductions beyond the levels established by the New START treaty. The administration is said to be considering reductions that could lead to as few as 300 warheads, which would require rather significant changes to long-standing U.S. nuclear doctrine. Dr. Kissinger and General Scowcroft warn that: Before momentum builds on that basis, we feel obliged to stress our conviction that the goal of future negotiations should be strategic stability and that lower numbers of weapons should be a consequence of strategic analysis, not an abstract preconceived determination. In fact, the authors go on to warn the reader that: Strategic stability is not inherent with low numbers of nuclear weapons; indeed, excessively low numbers could lead to a situation in which surprise attacks are conceivable.…”