“The amount of money we’re spending on maintaining nuclear weapons, modernizing nuclear weapons, is not in keeping with the modern world,” Levin said. “It’s much more a Cold War remnant.”
So said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) during a November 11 interview on Bloomberg Television to air this weekend.
Sen. Levin is right: Current and planned U.S. spending on nuclear weapons is totally out of whack with the 21st century security environment and poses financial and opportunity costs that can’t be justified given the current economic climate. Following through with current plans to replace all three legs of the triad could saddle the U.S. with an excessively large nuclear arsenal for the next half century. Check out our resource center on nuclear weapons spending for more information!
