McCain As Nonproliferator

The Bush administration has quickened the pace of nuclear weapon dismantling; it has also, under the guise of preserving our nuclear deterrent, proposed a whole new nuclear platform: RRWs, or reliable replacement warheads -- these would be cleaner, leaner, easier to produce, easier to get rid of, easier to store. With his speech in Denver today, John McCain joins the debate about nuclear non-proliferation. Rhetorically, McCain and Barack Obama strike much the same pose, but they differ, often profoundly, in the details. Indeed, Obama offers more details than McCain; McCain, citing the sensitivity of the subject and the broad, open debate about the way forward, seems open to a wide range of possibilities. Both would continue to unilaterally reduce our nation's nuclear weapon stockpiles, but Obama opposes the development of next-generation warheads -- RRWs, while McCain is silent -- saying only that he would consult with the Joint Chiefs of Staff about ways to "reduce the size of our nuclear arsenal to the lowest number possible consistent with our security requirements and global commitments."

Obama would pursue a global ban on intermediate range nuclear missiles; he pledges to complete a global effort to secure unguarded or lightly guarded stockpiles of nuclear weapons within four years; he supports a global ban on the production of new nuclear material; he wants the US to ratify Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. McCain, in 1999, voted against the CTBT, but he is open to ways to "see what can be done to overcome the shortcomings that prevented it from entering into force." Like Obama, McCain would reward verified nonproliferators will a guaranteed supply of nuclear fuel, but he would not pursue a global pause in the production of weapons-grade nuclear material. On diplomacy, McCain and Obama are close about nuclear diplomacy with China and Russia; they differ significantly on North Korea (Obama favors a continuation of the Bush Admin. approach; McCain does not) and Iran, where the differences have been well established.

McCain today highlighted those differences:

“Many believe all we need to do to end the nuclear programs of hostile governments is have our president talk with leaders in Pyongyang and Tehran, as if we haven't tried talking to these governments repeatedly over the past two decades. The truth is we will only address the terrible prospect of the worldwide spread of nuclear arms if we transcend our partisan differences, combine our energies, learn from our past mistakes, and seek practical and effective solutions.”