Disarmament Treaties Quotes

What I learned from clerking for Judge Guido Calabresi and for Justice Steven Breyer was that there is no position, regardless of how wrong you think it is, that does not have some arguments in its favor, and you have to find them. And then, no matter how right your own position is, you must look for the weaknesses in that they are always there. You must be willing to find them and possibly change your approach or your mind on the subject.

Free and open interchange of information across national borders as a prerequisite for U.S. disarmament talks with the Soviet Union.

My short-term vision is the abolition of nuclear weapons. My long-term vision is the abolition of war.

Nobody seriously thinks Sarah Palin knows anything about nuclear weapons. I would not trust her with a microwave oven, much less a nuclear bomb.

The treaty … had absolutely nothing in the way of verification or enforcement provisions. Everybody recognized that this was a grave deficiency, but I make no apology for the treaty. We really had a choice of concluding a treaty without any verification measures or having no treaty at all.

A drastic reduction in weapons competition following a general release from the commitment to the Cold War would be sharply in conflict with the needs of the industrial system.

It is complete nihilism to propose laying down arms in a world where atom bombs are around. It is very simple: there is no way of achieving peace other than with weapons.

We must create world-wide law and law enforcement as we outlaw world-wide war and weapon

Asking Europe to disarm is like asking a man in Chicago to give up his life insurance.

I have met with political leaders, legislators, and diplomats, seeking the next steps to press in reducing and eliminating the nuclear threat in this century. I have participated in public coalitions developing programmes for action to combat the global rash of small arms. All are trying and making a difference.

Arguably, it was the introduction of international non-proliferation treaties in the late '80s that finally led to the missiles being removed from Greenham Common.