Kucinich Takes Strong Stand on U.S. Nuclear Disarmament

In a Sunday press release the Dennis for President campaign summarized Congressman and presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich's statements on the ABC Talk Show "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" in relation to nuclear weapons. Kucinich thought it was "insane" to think that nuclear weapons could be construed as making the world safer.

One of his comments indicated that he thought that suggesting otherwise raised the question of whether a presidential hopeful was suitable for the job of president. He said that the U.S. should lead the way in the abolishment of nuclear weapons. He stated that if elected he would have the U.S. disarm themselves and get other nuclear powers to disarm themselves as well. Given this scenario, he would also discourage countries that do not have nuclear weapons from developing them.

In addition to their more hazardous consequences, Kucinich pointed out, nuclear energy would be a very big threat to global warming, an issue of great concern to many peoples and in many countries.

As far as the United States occupation of Iraq goes, Kucinich was of the opinion that it was keeping the Middle East unstable. Kucinich thought that diplomacy would be more effective than the current occupation. He thought that the United States should leave Iraq, and that Syria and other countries including Iran should take over the peacekeeping when the U.S. leaves the country. He stated that the misinterpretation of inadequate security information was part of the problem of how we first invaded Iraq. Kucinich made it known that he had voted against the war in the first place., and that it was good to be right "the first time."

Another topic on the ABC TV show Sunday morning, according to the Dennis for President press release, was the vulnerability of United States ports. He said that diplomacy and a good intelligence force are both necessary for protecting U.S. ports.