The time is now to craft a sane nuclear policy | Jon Rainwater and Rev. Dr. Rick Schlosser, San Jose Mercury News

Referring in their column to the final presidential debate this year, the authors write:

Preventing additional countries from gaining these weapons is crucial. But we thoroughly undermine the moral standing we need to stop other countries from building their first nuclear weapon when we are still deploying 8,000 of our own.

They continue:

Whoever wins the presidential election has an opportunity to be a leader of vision who can end the Cold War nightmare of nuclear disaster and create a nuclear weapons policy that fits the realities of the 21st century.  ...

The next time the world hangs at the precipice of nuclear annihilation, the cause is far more likely to be a bomber's computer glitch or a terrorist cell smuggling a warhead into an American harbor than the geopolitical brinkmanship of presidents.

The column concludes by quoting Gen. Colin Powell, who oversaw 28,000 nuclear weapons as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

These weapons "are useless ... this is the moment when we have to move forward and all of us come together to reduce the number of nuclear weapons and eliminate them from the face of the Earth."

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This article is featured today (Oct. 27) in my daily online paper, Beyond Child's Play: Peace Now--available at the Peace Now tab above and by free email subscription.