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Nuclear Pushback
washingtonpost.com ^ | Sept. 27, 2009 | Jim Hoagland

Posted on 09/27/2009 6:39:23 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY

President Obama's dream of a world without nuclear weapons seems more like a nightmare to Russia and other nations that possess doomsday arms. Obama is pushing on a door that is closed, barred from inside and locked with a key that has been thrown away as far as the Kremlin is concerned.

This harsh reality does not mean that the president should abandon his effort, which is a useful tool in his broader, more urgent campaign to change America's image abroad. It does mean that Obama should temper his rhetoric and avoid adding atomic abolition to the growing list of subjects that he oversells and then seems to struggle to control. See: health care, bankers' bonuses and the Middle East.

Stirring nuclear anxiety carries its own risks. Public opinion has proved an unreliable guide for nuclear policy, as George Kennan predicted six decades ago. Atomic weapons "will impede understanding of the things that are important" to the nation's security, he wrote in 1949. Their very existence "tends to carry the public mind ultimately toward a dim 'no man's land' of total confusion."

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bho44; bhonukes; disarmament

1 posted on 09/27/2009 6:39:23 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
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To: Free ThinkerNY
Stirring nuclear anxiety carries its own risks.

To be sure! Few Americans believe the US would ever wish to initiate nuclear hostilities for their own sake. But if the US whittles its arsenal down too much, the "use it or lose it" factor goes up.

2 posted on 09/27/2009 6:48:35 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (The Democrat party is a criminal enterprise.)
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To: Free ThinkerNY
Putin's Response to Obama's dream of Nuke Free World.

Haa! Haa! Comrade Obama, you get rid of all your nukes first, then we will talk...

The scary thing is, Obama's stupid enough to do it.

3 posted on 09/27/2009 6:54:05 PM PDT by apillar
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To: apillar
“Haa! Haa! Comrade Obama, you get rid of all your nukes first, then we will talk...”

The plan is to NOT to disarm anyone but the U.S..

The left wants to disarm the U.S. but is spreading nuclear weapons throughout the rest of the communist world.

4 posted on 09/27/2009 7:05:53 PM PDT by DaveTesla (You can fool some of the people some of the time......)
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To: Jet Jaguar

Ping.


5 posted on 09/27/2009 7:10:54 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four fried chickens and a coke)
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To: Army Air Corps

Thanks.


6 posted on 09/27/2009 7:14:17 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar (A mob of one.)
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To: apillar

That is what really worries me. I think that is either naive enough to do just that or maybe he is trying to put the US in a position of weakness and inviting attack. This clown is unknown at this time but everything he is trying to do is detrimental to the US.


7 posted on 09/27/2009 7:21:23 PM PDT by Deagle
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To: HiTech RedNeck
To be sure! Few Americans believe the US would ever wish to initiate nuclear hostilities for their own sake. But if the US whittles its arsenal down too much, the "use it or lose it" factor goes up.

You're right - it would make us LESS safe - the monsters of the world find weakness seductive...

8 posted on 09/27/2009 7:33:31 PM PDT by GOPJ (UN mixing democracies & dictators' is like mixing ice cream and shit-all of it stinks.(Steyn))
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To: Deagle

Well, we COULD offer to throw away a few token nukes — on all Iran’s known or suspected military installations.


9 posted on 09/27/2009 7:38:16 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (The Democrat party is a criminal enterprise.)
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To: Deagle

Got all the geopolitical smarts of a concussed Jimmy Carter.


10 posted on 09/27/2009 7:39:36 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (The Democrat party is a criminal enterprise.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

A strong anti missile defense is the best policy to guarantee safety in today’s nuclear world. 0bama is doing nothing more than attempting damage control as Iran becomes a nuclear power during his watch.


11 posted on 09/27/2009 8:45:32 PM PDT by Post Toasties (Conservatives allow the guilty to be executed but Lefties insist that the innocent be executed.)
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