Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) says that the knowledge North Korea has gained from its nuclear program can never be undone, and there will always be a weapons or proliferation threat from the nation (:25).
John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, discussed North Korean and Iranian nuclear proliferation at a banquet in the House of Representatives. Bolton described the current status of the North Korean and Iranian programs and attributed the White House’s changing policy towards North Korea and Iran to President Bush’s desire to leave a positive foreign policy legacy. He said both states have large influence in the Middle East and that making concessions to them could cause a snowball effect in the region.
Bolton lambasted President Bush’s suggestion to remove North Korea from the state sponsors of terrorism list. He said North Korea directly engages in acts of terror and should not be removed from the list simply due to its unrelated nuclear status. Bolton countered Bush’s stance by saying North Korea has not halted its uranium enrichment program and that the Bush administration is going out of its way to cast doubt on its existence.
Bolton also expressed frustration towards US-Iranian diplomacy, saying the Bush administration’s policy of not engaging in talks with Iran until Iran dismantles its nuclear program is in violation. He said the possibility of the United States placing foreign affairs officers in Tehran would show Iran that the United States will concede if given time. Bolton also added his opinion that an Obama administration would allow Iran’s quest for nuclear power to continue uninhibited.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton says the United States’ policy for five years has been that it would not engage in diplomacy with Iran unless Iran halted its uranium enrichment program, suggesting that Iran is being made to believe that the White House will make concessions in an attempt to leave a foreign policy legacy. (1:04)
Representative Dan Burton (R-Ind.) says he does not trust Iran and the promises of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He fears Russia will give nuclear technology to Iran which will allow Iran to build better nuclear missiles. (0:46)
Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.) opposes the Agreement for Nuclear Cooperation at a hearing on the proposed U.S.-Russia agreement before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. (0:47)
Combined, Russia and Iran control about 50 percent of the world’s natural uranium reserves. At a hearing entitled “Russia, Iran and Nuclear Weapons: Implications of the Proposed U.S.-Russia Agreement”, Chairman Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.) expressed his concerns that Iran
is enriching uranium faster than sanctions are being applied to prevent this. The proposed civil nuclear cooperation agreement between U.S. and Russia would reduce Iran’s incentives to expand its own uranium enrichment which would be used to make reactors or bombs.
Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Flo.) noted that the House adopted the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007, prohibiting the submission to Congress of a nuclear cooperation agreement with any country assisting Iran’s nuclear programs, by a vote of 397 to 16. However, the administration ignored this and went ahead with the agreement.
Representative Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) testified but was exempted from questioning. Markey opposed the nuclear cooperation agreement saying it aided construction and fueling of the Bushehr nuclear reactor and was part of President Bush’s Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) program which plans to ‘reinvigorate civilian nuclear reprocessing’. Markey noted that the Bush Administration
itself does not believe Russia’s proliferation activity has stopped.
Unlike Markey, John C. Rood, acting under Secretary of State, was questioned by no less than 12 committee members. When asked by Senator Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) as to whether he would sign the so-called 123 Agreement (section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act) if it was modified, Rood would
not give a straight answer. Rood supported the agreement and gave assurance that the steps Russia has put in place in its agreement with Iran mitigated America’s own concerns
The House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia met to discuss “Iran’s Strategic Aspirations and the Future of the Middle East.” Gary Ackerman (D-NY), said that Iran’s threat to America has gone ignored for years. He said that now Iran’s expanded realm means a real threat to the U.S., but that the security risks are manageable. (more…)
National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley spoke at the Proliferation Society Initiative fifth anniversary meeting and said that North Korea and Iran are still great proliferation risks. Hadley said that the position of the U.S. and many other nations is to not betray future generations by allowing Iran to have nuclear weapons. He said the door is still open to negotiations only if Iran suspends their uranium enrichment program.
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Senator John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) presidential campaign hosted a press conference call, which discussed McCain’s foreign policy remarks delivered today in Dever, Colo. McCain’s advisors said that John McCain has taken a “significant departure“ from the nuclear security policy of the Bush Administration with his willingness to have open talks with Russia and China, and the creation of global nuclear repositories, nuclear penetrators and other nuclear foreign policy issues.
Randy Scheunemann, senior foreign policy and national security advisor to the John McCain presidential campaign, spoke about McCain’s ultimate goal of a nuclear free world. McCain’s support for strategic arms reduction and treaties with Russia to ban and remove intermediate ranged ballistic missiles, his interest in strengthening non-proliferation regime and the ending of dangerous nuclear materials production are all steps away from the Bush Administration’s current and past foreign policy decisions.
With John McCain being seen as the “second Bush” by many members of the media and influential political figures, these statements by McCain and his advisors act as a step away from any associations with Bush’s policies and present a more open and “comprehensive” plan of action for the future than any other president has put out there, Scheunemann said. (24:00)
