One of the more objectionable arguments in yesterday's speech on nuclear weapons by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was his assertion that "there is absolutely no way we can maintain a credible deterrent and reduce the number of weapons in our stockpile without resorting to testing our stockpile or pursuing a modernization program." In plain English, Gates is threatening that the Pentagon and the National Nuclear Security Administration -- which runs the nuclear weapons complex -- will break a longstanding moratorium on nuclear testing if they are not allowed to build a new warhead (known in bureacratese as the "Reliable Replacement Warhead." This assertion is wrong in so many ways it is hard to know where to start. Point one is that according to the Pentagon's own experts, the plutonium "pits" that form the most important active component of current bombs are good for at least 85 years, as set out in an analysis by Daryl Kimball of the Arms Control Association.

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In a speech today at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, Bush Administration Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a last ditch effort to justify the continued possession of nuclear weapons by the United States, even as figures ranging from Barack Obama to Henry Kissinger to a growing network of citizen's organizations have endorsed the goal of "a world without nuclear weapons."

Given that Gates has been mentioned as a possible Secretary of Defense in an Obama or a McCain administration, his opinions still matter -- although one would hope that his status quo position on nuclear weapons would disqualify him from receiving such an appointment. This is especially true given that eliminating the threat of nuclear weapons should be the top priority of the next administration, as Joseph Cirincione, the President of the Ploughshares Fund, suggested in a recent interview.

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