Dick Lugar: “I rise to speak in support of the new START treaty. We undertake this debate at a time when almost 100,000 American…”

“I rise to speak in support of the new START treaty. We undertake this debate at a time when almost 100,000 American military personnel are fighting a difficult war in Afghanistan. More than 1,300 of our troops have been killed in Afghanistan, with almost 10,000 wounded. Meanwhile, we are in our seventh year in Iraq--a deployment that has cost more than 4,400 American lives and wounded roughly 32,000 persons. We still have more than 47,000 troops deployed in that country. Tensions on the Korean peninsula are extremely high, with no resolution to the problems in North Korea's nuclear program. We continue to pursue international support for steps that could prevent Iran's nuclear program from producing a nuclear weapon. We remain concerned about stability in Pakistan and the security of that country's nuclear arsenal. We are attempting to counter terrorist threats emanating from Afghanistan, Pakistan, east Africa, Yemen, and many other locations. We are concerned about terrorist cells in allied countries, and even in the United States. We remain highly vulnerable to disruptions in oil supplies due to national disasters, terrorist attacks, political instability, or manipulation of the markets by unfriendly oil-producing nations. Even as we attempt to respond to these and other national security imperatives, we are facing severe resource constraints. Since September 11, 2001, we have spent almost $1.1 trillion in Iraq and Afghanistan.”