Republican Peter Roskam has been a staunch supporter of the Bush-Cheney brand of militarism that has bankrupted our country and gave us an illegal and totally unnecessary war in Iraq and has left us in a quagmire in Afghanistan through neglect and mismanagement. So we were not at all surprised when we heard him on WLS AM this morning, trashing the new START treaty with renowned disarmament experts Don Wade and Roma. If you like wars and lots of them, Peter Roskam is your man. If you like military spending that exceeds that of the next highest 45 countries combined, then Peter Roskam is your man. If you think the quest for ever more destructive weapons is a good thing, then Peter’s your guy. If you want a new cold-war style nuclear arms race, Peter’s on it.
We happen to think there is a better way and we support the leadership of President Obama in taking the first step toward elimination of nuclear weapons since the original treaty was signed in 1991. And we think that Peter Roskam’s opponent, Democrat Ben Lowe of Wheaton is of the same mindset.
Ben doesn’t have the same instant access to media that Peter Roskam does, so you didn’t get to hear him on the radio this morning to present another side to the issue of the START treaty. But we did receive from his campaign this morning a statement, so here it is:
“Today’s signature and renewal of START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), sends a strong message to the world that the United States is committed to being a leader in the reduction of nuclear weapons, as well as their systems of delivery. We must not be under any pretensions that this treaty in any way eliminates the danger of massive nuclear damage to our civilization. However, we are convinced that it is a significant step in the right direction towards a world free of nuclear weapons. Ultimately this event highlights American leadership in light of rogue states heading in the opposite direction in their nuclear warfare programs, and, proposes a significant shift towards a more sensible moral compass on life and inter-government cooperation.
We are also in agreement with President’s Obama’s Nuclear Posture Review released a few days ago, and encourage the assessment of nuclear weapons as a measure of very last resort. The administrations decision to refrain from using nuclear weapons in the face of biological and chemical attack is extremely controversial but we agree with it on the principle that responding to a non-nuclear attack with a nuclear attack could easily spiral out control as the attacking enemy would be dealt a far more devastating blow than they originally inflicted upon the US, and, would be far more willing to entertain an even more disastrous nuclear response.”







