Can the nearly bankrupt United States afford to spend billions
more of borrowed money on nuclear weapons that are unlikely to ever be
used, and which serve no useful military purpose?
That is the weighty question confronting President Barack Obama as he
prepares his overdue Nuclear Posture Review. Each new American
president must by law review his nation’s nuclear weapons and strategy.
Nobel Peace Laureate Obama will shortly decide what to do with
America’s 5,500 strategic nuclear weapons – that possess enough
destructive power to destroy the planet at least five times over. Some
experts say it’s 50 times over.
Obama, strongly influenced by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, is
expected to decide to spend US $7 billion modernizing US nuclear weapons
and plants. Maintaining US nuclear weapons already costs some $52
billion annually. Nuclear weapons, like people, deteriorate over time,
so require regular maintenance and refurbishment.
This is a huge cost at when the nation is running on borrowed money
from China and Japan. Russia’s total military budget, including nuclear
forces, is estimated at around $38 billion – less than what the US
spends on its nuclear arsenal.
President Obama just can’t seem to escape the shadow of his bellicose
predecessor, George W. Bush. Angry liberals are claming they were
duped into voting for “p…
