Boldest nuclear cutters recently? It’s been GOP

Boldest nuclear cutters recently? It’s been GOP
By Robert Burns - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Feb 18, 2012 9:43:45 EST
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s consideration of severe cuts in nuclear weapons generated a flurry of GOP criticism — “reckless lunacy,” hissed Arizona Rep. Trent Franks. But the historical record shows that in the two decades since the Cold War ended, Republicans have been the boldest cutters of the nuclear arsenal.

“Republican presidents seem to have a thing for 50 percent nuclear reductions,” says Hans Kristensen, a nuclear arms specialist with the Federation of American Scientists, a think tank founded by many of the scientists who built the first atomic bombs.


For example, on President George H.W. Bush’s watch, the number of deployed weapons as well as those held in reserve was nearly cut in half, from 22,217 to 13,708 warheads, according to official U.S. government figures. The number of deployed strategic warheads dropped from 12,300 to 7,114 in that same period, by Kristensen’s calculations.
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