President Obama and Secretary of Defense Gates are at a "Nuclear Standoff." Gates is pushing for the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) Program, while our new president wants to shelve or even scrap the idea.
The problem is, the plutonium used in our nuclear warheads has a limited shelf-life due to radioactive half-life. In other words, the aging warheads--built in the '70's and '80's--run the risk of becoming inert.
President Obama and most of his political base feel we have too many nukes. That if we don't do anything to ruffle the feathers of the other nuclear nations, they'll follow our lead and start beating their warheads into radioactive plowshares.
The reality is: Russia and China continue to update their warheads. Meanwhile rogue nations like Iran and North Korea continue their nuclear programs. Not to mention terrorst organizations and their quest to harness the power of the atom.
Time Magazine on line's article discusses the Gates vs Obama impasse:
Our new president has an unrealistic expectation of a nuclear armed world, while Time Magazine's tone on this subject is: Why bother updating the warheads?We're moving towards a unilateral disarmament by default.
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