President George W. Bush's Non Proliferation Speech
Feb 12, 2004
News from the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation For immediate release - Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Contact: Molly Pickett, 202 546-0795 ext.119
President’s Nonproliferation Speech: More Needed
The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation today called on President Bush to back up his remarks on international nonproliferation policy with consistent policies at home.
The President’s speech at the National Defense University usefully addressed the dangers of the spread of weapons of mass destruction in today’s global environment. New initiatives, such as the Proliferation Security Initiative, are helpful tools in curbing the smuggling of illicit weapons.
However, the President’s rhetoric ignored the impact on nonproliferation efforts of U.S. steps toward developing new nuclear weapons and a national missile defense system. Additionally, despite the U.S. commitment to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), the U.S. has made little effort toward destroying its own stockpiles and maintains a deployed nuclear arsenal of more than 7,500 weapons.
“Such a failure of U.S. leadership only leads other nuclear and non-nuclear states alike to pursue advanced weapons technology,” said Molly Pickett, nonproliferation analyst at the Center.
The Bush Administration acknowledges that the NPT must continue to play a role in international efforts to combat proliferation, but more must be done to strengthen it. The President proposes creating a system by which nations can buy fuel for operating civilian nuclear power plants if they renounce enrichment and re-processing technology, which could be used to build weapons.
However, the 40 members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group have tried to deny such technology to other countries for over a decade. “Providing stronger incentives for nations to comply with the NPT must be a priority if the treaty is to be strengthened,” said Center Board member Matthew Bunn.
A commercial consortium should guarantee a supply of nuclear fuel to any nation that agrees not to build enrichment and uranium facilities, but also retrieve spent fuel from the nuclear reactors. “Any country that turns down such a deal would then be put under a microscope,” Bunn said.
Pakistan is one of three countries with nuclear capabilities that never signed on to the NPT. In his speech, the President highlighted the discovery and dismantlement of a nuclear black market headed by Pakistan’s nuclear program founder A.Q. Khan. The reach and impact this network has already had is horrific. The fact that the United States, under both Democratic and Republican Administrations, has for years winked at the Pakistani government’s nuclear ambitions is worse. It took an admission of guilt by Khan and a commitment to finding all the facts by President Musharraf for the U.S. government to fully acknowledge the threat from that nation.
Finally, the Administration must put its money where its mouth is when promoting the accomplishments of Nunn-Lugar nonproliferation programs. These programs have been the most critical measure for securing Cold-War era nuclear material in the former Soviet Union. Russia remains the gravest threat when it comes to potential terrorist acquisition of nuclear material. Yet, the FY2005 budget request fails to raise the level of funding for these essential programs from the current $1.3 billion to the benchmark of $3 billion per year, established by the high-level Baker-Cutler Task Force in 2001.
“The proliferation threat cannot be addressed without international cooperation, but the Bush Administration also cannot expect the rest of the world to follow if we do not lead by example,” Pickett concluded.
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