Numerous observers, including the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and its Doomsday Clock, believe the Earth is closer than ever before to nuclear apocalypse. The long-standing trend of nuclear weapons reduction has been reversed, with the United States leading the way in a new nuclear arms race.
We are witnessing not only a massive buildup of nuclear weapons, but also their proliferation, the creation of new stealth airplanes that can carry them, new investment in the long-sought dream of missiles that might shoot other missiles out of the sky, unprecedented nuclear war rehearsal "exercises," a new acceptability of proposing and threatening to use nuclear weapons, and increased hostility between the United States and both Russia and China.
It's time to turn this around with a new start on the New START Treaty. The treaty limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads for each party to 1,550. Is there a sane person who proposes a need for more?
