Part 3 of 3 Parts (Please read Parts 1 and 2 first)
9. Should the president have to seek specific congressional authorization before ordering a nuclear strike, other than in response to a direct nuclear attack on the US?
The U.S. president can order a nuclear strike at any time for any reason. This is too much responsibility for any one human being. Congress should have the ability to cancel a nuclear strike unless it is in response to a nuclear attack. In any case, if we are hit with a full nuclear assault by the Russians, for instance, it would be the end of human civilization and billions of people would die. In such circumstances, additional nuclear detonations from our counter strike would be redundant.
10. Would you reaffirm the nuclear deal with Iran (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action)?
We never should have left this treaty. It has extremely intrusive monitoring provisions that would prevent Iran from restarting their nuclear weapons program. Iran has been following the terms of the treaty according to U.S. intelligence agencies. U.S. allies who followed the U.S. in imposing sanctions against Iran to force them to agree to the treaty are not eager to end the treaty. They are working with Iran to try to keep the treaty in force in direct opposition to the U.S. We should reenter the JCPA as soon as possible and mend our relationships with our allies.
11. Would you reaffirm the goal stated by President Obama in Prague of working toward a world free of nuclear weapons?
Climate change and nuclear war are the two greatest threats to our civilization. We should work towards banishing all nuclear weapons in the world. Many U.N. members are currently ratifying a treaty that calls for the elimination of all nuclear weapons. We should be working to bring this about. Unfortunately, one of the major problems with eliminating nuclear weapons is the fear that some nation will say that they have destroyed all of their nuclear weapons but will actually hide a couple of nuclear warheads for possible future use. We can hope that international pressure and advances in monitoring technology will reduce this possibility.
How should the US honor its commitment in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to work toward nuclear disarmament, in exchange for nonnuclear states’ abstaining from the bomb?
The U.S. can offer nuclear reactors, nuclear fuel and spent nuclear fuel removal to nations without nuclear weapons in return for them not staring a nuclear weapons program. It is also important that the U.S. not provide any nuclear technology to a non-nuclear armed nation which could be used in a nuclear weapons program.
12. Would you pledge not to take campaign contributions from nuclear-weapons makers such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, and Raytheon?
These companies have spent millions of dollars to influence members of Congress to vote for huge and unnecessary weapons programs from which they make billions of dollars. No candidate who wants to reduce the threat of nuclear war should take a penny from these defense contractors.
13. What does the concept of “shared security” mean to you?
The U.N. was formed after World War II in order to work for world peace. Its mission has not been accomplished by a long shot, but progress has been made. The way to “shared security” is for every nation to insure its own security by respecting and supporting the security of all other nations.