AFF/CTBT: SOLVENCY — CTBT RATIFICATION WILL INCREASE WORLD SECURITY FROM NUCLEAR WEAPONS

CTBT WILL IMPROVE USA SECURITY AND WILL NOT DEGRADE NUCLEAR DETERRENCE

Harold Brown Melvin R. Laird and William J. Perry; all former Defense Secretaries, January 9, 2001, The San Diego Union-Tribune SECTION: OPINION;Pg. B-7 HEADLINE: America needs the test-ban treaty //VT2002acsln

Shalikashvili concludes that, with proper programs in place, the treaty will improve United States security and will not, as some have suggested, jeopardize nuclear deterrence.

In the debate preceding its October 1999 vote on the test-ban treaty, the Senate was presented with compelling but conflicting statements on the nonproliferation benefits of the treaty and its impact on the long-term safety and reliability -- and hence deterrence value -- of our nuclear arsenal. But the truncated debate meant that there were no adequate answers given on these issues.

COMPREHENSIVE POLICY REVIEW SHOWS THAT CTBT RATIFICATION ADVANTAGES FAR OUTWEIGH THE PROBLEMS IT MIGHT CREATE

K.P. Waran January 8, 2001 New Straits Times (Malaysia) SECTION: Opinion Diplomatic crossroads; Pg. 12 HEADLINE: Hoping the Americans ratify CTBT //VT2002acsln

A RECENT report by former chairman of US joint chiefs of staff John Shalikashvili urging the United States to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is heartening news. Completed in 1996, 160 countries have signed the CTBT while 69 have ratified it, but it can come into force only when 44 potentially nuclear- capable countries ratify it. In October 1999, the US Senate rejected the treaty. Shalikashvili is his report said the treaty, "was an integral and inseparable part of our national non-proliferation strategy". "For the sake of future generations, it would be unforgiveable to neglect any reasonable action that can help prevent nuclear proliferation, as the test ban treaty clearly would," he had said in the report. Shalikashvili, who spent 10 months conducting a review of the contents of the treaty by interviewing nuclear experts, weapons designers and Senators, concluded that ratifying the CTBT would increase national security and the security benefits of the treaty would outweigh disadvantages.

NOW IS THE TIME TO RATIFY THE CTBT

John M. Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1993 to 1997, January 06, 2001, The Washington Post SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. A21 HEADLINE: The Test Ban Solution //VT2002acsln

I urge the new administration and the Senate to reexamine the test ban treaty in light of the contributions it can make to strengthened U.S. leadership of a comprehensive nonproliferation strategy. We do not need nuclear test explosions now, and we do not want others conducting them. We have a wealth of knowledge gained from more than a thousand tests. Our nuclear arsenal is safe, reliable and effective.

FIVE JOINTS CHIEFS CHAIRS SAY CTBT IS ESSENTIAL

ERIC SCHMITT, The New York Times August 30, 1999, SECTION: Section A; Page 1;  HEADLINE: DEMOCRATS READY FOR FIGHT TO SAVE TEST BAN TREATY // lnu-acs

Five current and former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff support the testing ban, which would eliminate underground nuclear tests, as atmospheric testing is already banned. The treaty also has the suport of most arms control experts and the directors of the nation's nuclear laboratories, which are responsible for maintaining the safety and reliability of America's nuclear arsenal through nonexplosive nuclear experiments, including sophisticated computer simulations.      

IF THE USA RATIFIES CTBT MANY OTHER COUNTRIES WILL FOLLOW

John M. Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1993 to 1997, January 06, 2001, The Washington Post SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. A21 HEADLINE: The Test Ban Solution //VT2002acsln

The president-elect has endorsed continuing the U.S. nuclear testing moratorium. Other countries, however, are more likely to continue their own voluntary test moratoriums if they are considered steps toward a verifiable, legally binding ban, not end-points in themselves.

Russia has ratified the test ban treaty, along with 68 other countries. China, which has signed but not yet ratified, as well as India and Pakistan, which have made provisional promises to sign and ratify, are watching to see what the next administration will do.