Author: Robert Burns
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Plan would eliminate nukes by 2030
WASHINGTON – A group committed to eliminating nuclear weapons presented on Monday a four-step plan to achieve that goal by 2030, while acknowledging that Iran could be a “show stopper.”The plan by the nonpartisan Global Zero Commission calls for the United States and Russia – the world’s largest nuclear powers – to agree to reduce…
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U.S. presses for U.N. response to North Korean nuclear trade
WASHINGTON – At the risk of triggering a military confrontation, the Obama administration is pressing for new U.N. steps aimed at cutting off North Korea’s ability to peddle its nuclear wares, including an arrangement to interdict air and sea shipments of nuclear materials and hardware to and from North Korea.The core U.S. concern is that…
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Analysis: Obama seeks effective war innovations
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is struggling to confront a central reality of the Afghanistan war it inherited – that more troops, more aid and a retooled strategy alone are not enough.It also needs to energize the effort with new ideas – and do it before American public patience runs out.It’s a grim given that…
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Clinton vows to revitalize US diplomacy
WASHINGTON – Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that she intends to revitalize the mission of diplomacy in American foreign policy, calling for a “smart power” strategy in the Middle East and implicitly criticizing the Bush administration for having downgraded the role of arms control.At a confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, President-elect Barack…
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Petraeus calls for a halt to U.S. troop reductions
WASHINGTON – The top U.S. commander in Iraq told Congress on Tuesday that hard-won gains in the war zone are too fragile to promise any troop pullouts beyond this summer.Army Gen. David Petraeus held his ground against Democrats and refused to commit to more withdrawals before President Bush leaves office in January.Petraeus painted a picture…