The last US-Russia arms control treaty is expiring. We must stop a new arms race | Edward J Markey

"Let's be honest: America needs another nuclear weapon about as much as Donald Trump deserves a Nobel peace prize. Yet on Thursday, the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the U S and Russia will expire. When the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty New Start goes away, there will be no limits on US and Russian nuclear arsenals for the first time in more than 50 years. That is very bad news."

"Agreements like New Start helped end the cold war nuclear arms race. Many Americans are too young to remember that era. If you missed it the first time, I have news for you: it's back. During Arms Race 1.0, Washington and Moscow conducted more than 1,700 nuclear tests, contaminating the environment and making our own people sick. Now the US president wants to resume nuclear testing."

"We also built grotesquely large nuclear arsenals more than 30,000 weapons each. Today we are down to about 4,000 apiece still far too many. We spent approximately $10tn in taxpayer money building these weapons then paid again to dismantle most of them. For $10tn, you could buy Google, Apple and most of Microsoft. But the true cost wasn't just financial. The arms race made the world vastly more dangerous: more weapons, more tension, more chances for miscalculation, more warheads that could be stolen or misused."

The expiry of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty will remove limits on US and Russian nuclear arsenals after more than fifty years. Arms Race 1.0 involved over 1,700 nuclear tests that contaminated the environment and harmed people. Nuclear stockpiles once exceeded 30,000 weapons per side; current arsenals of about 4,000 each remain dangerously large. About $10tn was spent building these weapons and more was paid to dismantle most of them. Long-range missile defenses have consumed hundreds of billions without delivering reliable protection. More weapons, tension, and miscalculation increase the risk of theft, misuse, or catastrophic escalation. The only reliable escape from nuclear catastrophe is reducing global arsenals.

Read at www.theguardian.com