Iowans View the Theatre of the New START Treaty

This web site compiles information about the goings on relevant to the ongoing nuclear discussion. For someone interested in nuclear disarmament and all of its interconnectedness to world affairs, it is a must read. The events that appear on the calendar are both significant and less so. For example, when the author recently spoke on this topic, in public, in Iowa, the event appeared along with more notable happenings like Secretaries Gates and Clinton’s testimony on New START last Tuesday. In the 21st Century it is a way to remain connected to what we are working on, even if the vast majority of Blog for Iowa readers and most residents of the United States went through the week unaware of the hearings.

In their testimony, Secretary Clinton, Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen voiced their support for the New START Treaty. Their written testimony can be found here and one takes the time to read it, one will find that it is uniform in its support for ratification of the treaty. This is no surprise since substantial work has been done by the State Department to be inclusive of the Department of Defense and the Military in negotiating the treaty. Admiral Mullen’s testimony exemplified this when he said, “this treaty has the full support of your uniformed military. Throughout its negotiation, Secretaries Clinton and Gates ensured that professional military perspectives were thoroughly considered. During the development of the New START Treaty I was personally involved, to include two face-to-face negotiating sessions and three telephone conversations with my counterpart, the Chief of the Russian General Staff, General Makarov, regarding key aspects of the treaty.” As representatives of the administration, despite press questioning designed to assert division, these three cabinet secretaries spoke with one voice.

The cynical among us may believe that the way the treaty’s ratification will be played out is a foregone conclusion. There are Senators who have suggested that even though the testimony gave assurance that the United States missile defense program would not be restricted by New START, they continued to have concerns about that. Some Republican Senators, like Iowa’s Senator Grassley, have withheld comment on the treaty pending the Foreign Relations Committee Hearings and may not decide how to vote until the treaty is debated before the whole Senate. These cynics believe that the effort to ratify the treaty will play out along party lines, and that the key vote on the treaty will not be on its merits, but on cloture so that debate before the full Senate can begin. The question will be, “can Senator Reid get 60 votes for cloture?” I can understand why there are cynics; it has been that kind of year. If the treaty can be debated and voted upon based on its merits, the author believes that it will pass with an overwhelming majority. The hearings this week are part of a theater performance that is not reached catharsis. It is centered on what the Republicans will say and do.

So it comes down to this. By any measure, ratification of the New START treaty would be a positive step towards the nuclear disarmament that is required by United States participation in the Non-Proliferation Treaty. As the testimony this week indicated, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Defense Department and the State Department support ratification of the treaty. Whether the United States will realize the benefits of a world without nuclear weapons remains an open question based upon what key senators like Iowa’s Chuck Grassley will do regarding the cloture vote and an up or down vote on ratification of the New START treaty. Now is the time to let Senator Grassley know that Iowans support New START and expect his vote for its ratification.

~Paul
Deaton is a native Iowan living in rural Johnson County and weekend
editor of Blog for Iowa. He is also a member of Iowa Physicians for
Social Responsibility and Veterans for Peace. E-mail Paul
Deaton