By Greg Sorenson
With North Korea testing missiles earlier this week and Irans disclosure that it will pursue nuclear ambitions, the threat of a nuclear holocaust is real.
That is what Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr. said in a lecture Wednesday in the Cultural Center Theater. Graham, who spent several decades as general counsel and acting director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, spoke about his strategy for nonproliferation in this "new nuclear age." He also promoted his book titled "Common Sense on Weapons of Mass Destruction."
Graham tried to answer the question, "Why should I really be interested in weapons of mass destruction?" He said arms control and nuclear nonproliferation is "not just a liberal issue, it's a good sense issue."
The ambassador spoke in detail of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), a treaty he helped extend indefinitely as President Clinton's special ambassador for nuclear disarmament issues. He said he believes the adherence to the NPT would go a long way to keeping the world safer from a nuclear threat.
While the Cold War threat no longer exists because Russia and China are no longer adversaries to the United States, Graham said our greatest threat now comes from nuclear proliferation by hostile nations.
Now that North Korea and Iran are making strides toward becoming nuclear states, "The NPT has never seemed weaker or its fate seemed less certain," Graham said. He said tough enforcement policies with the two nations could change things. Graham wants President Bush to support and the Senate to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in order to encourage other nations to follow suit. The ambassador indicated that the United States is having a hard time forcing other nations to comply with the treaties, while not promising to do so itself.
When the forum was opened up to questions, one student asked about Graham's opinions on the Bush Administration's proposed national missile defense system. The system would, in theory, allow the United States to intercept a missile in mid-air and to protect itself from a nuclear missile strike.
Graham said the United States faces no missile threat because North Korea is far from being able to strike the United States and other nations with nuclear missile capabilities are not considered hostile. He said international terrorists pose a greater threat.
"There is no evidence that they want to deliver weapons of mass destruction by missile," Graham said. "They'd do it by stealth."
During this month's ongoing nuclear conference at the United Nations, Graham said he would view it a success "if no disaster happens, such as somebody withdrawing from the treaty." He also criticized the news media for not giving enough coverage to the conference.
"It's more important than other sensations, such as Michael Jackson and the 'runaway bride.'"
When asked who he believes should be allowed to possess nuclear weapons, Graham responded, "The simple answer is- nobody."