March 17, 2014

GOP PLATFORM CALLS FOR MODERNIZED NUCLEAR ARSENAL, COMPLEX

By ExchangeMonitor

A draft version of the Republican National Committee’s 2012 platform takes square aim at the Obama Administration’s nuclear weapons policy, suggesting that President Obama’s decision to scale back plans to modernize the nation’s nuclear weapons complex and arsenal have weakened the nation’s nuclear deterrent. The 2012 platform is expected to be ratified at this week’s Republican National Convention, but a draft version that repeats many prominent GOP criticisms of the Administration’s nuclear weapons policy decisions was unearthed by Politico on the RNC website before being quickly taken down. “The United States is the only nuclear power not modernizing its nuclear stockpile,” the platform states. “It took the current Administration just one year to renege on the President’s commitment to modernize the neglected infrastructure of the nuclear weapons complex—a commitment made in exchange for approval of the New START Treaty.”

The platform also says that the Obama Administration failed to maintain the nation’s nuclear arsenal at a level adequate for nuclear deterrence. “We recognize that the gravest terror threat we face—a nuclear attack made possible by nuclear proliferation—requires a comprehensive strategy for reducing the world’s nuclear stockpiles and preventing the spread of those armaments,” the platform states. “But the U.S. can lead that effort only if it maintains an effective strategic arsenal at a level sufficient to fulfill its deterrent purposes, a notable failure of the current Administration.”

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