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weapons-grade plutonium. The accord was signed at a nuclear summit in Washington arranged by Obama, at which leaders of forty-seven nations committed to reducing the world’s nuclear stockpiles even as Iran drives ever closer toward nuclear weaponization, a development likely to spark a multi-country Mideast nuclear arms race. 4 One week earlier, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and Obama signed the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, committing both countries to reducing their deployed nuclear arsenals.
    Obama had broadly proclaimed his disarmament intentions during a 2007 campaign speech: “Here’s what I’ll say as president: America seeks aworld in which there are no nuclear weapons.” 5 By 2010, as president, he was arguing: “We need to change our nuclear policy and our posture, which is still focused on deterring the Soviet Union—a country that doesn’t exist.” 6 Unfortunately, Obama’s declaration came just as Russia was signing a major arms deal with Syria and began to revive its Cold War–era naval bases in the Middle East, including in the Syrian ports of Tartus and Latakia on the Mediterranean. Moscow had also maintained bases in Damascus during the Cold War, but post–Soviet Russia’s military posture in the region weakened for a time. As of this writing, Moscow had resumed giving diplomatic cover, along with its military assistance, to the murderous Assad regime.
    And just as Iran, North Korea, and other aggressor countries (e.g., Venezuela) aim to develop or enhance intercontinental missile capabilities, the IPS report next recommends the U.S. cease all further development of missile
defenses
. Yes, you read that correctly. The report goes through a list of current missile defense programs, including Ground-based Midcourse Defense, Airborne Laser, Kinetic Energy Interceptors, and a number of others, pushing for all programs to be cut. “It is unwise to fund more advanced systems for missile defense while current ones have yet to be proven effective against their targeted threats,” complains the report. In other words, it is desirable for Obama to invest billions and billions in taxpayer funds on questionable solar and other “green energy” projects, even as many of those projects prove impracticable or go bankrupt, but investment in “unproven” national defense systems is to be slashed with abandon.
    The military’s vital Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation program is to be cut by $10 billion across the board. After all, why should the armed forces research, develop, test, or evaluate weapons or programs when the money can be better reinvested in wind turbines and “peacekeeping” forces? (We’re not being sarcastic here—keep reading.)
    Next on the chopping block: the complete cancelation of the second SSN-744 Virginia Class submarine. While the Unified Security Budget describes the new model as “unnecessary to address any of the threats facing the United States today” and “a weapon looking for an enemy,” the SSN-774 is designed for covert collection of intelligence, transportation of special operations teams, and launching of tactical Tomahawk missiles—flexible capabilities tailored to rapid responses required by the 21st-century’sconflicts with irregular combatants. Similarly targeted for cancelation are the V-22 Osprey helicopter and the Navy and Marine Corps versions of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. And, as mentioned earlier, the report calls for the massive reduction of active-duty personnel stationed in Europe and Asia as well as the cutting of two active component air wings and two carrier-battle groups along with their associated Air Force air wings.
    And what to do with all these savings? The Unified Security Budget provides a helpful graph that shows how the money can be used to “meet the State Department’s request of $2.14 billion for the