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- ******Reality
Check******
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- CLINTON ON THE COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN
TREATY
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- WRONG!!!! 36 Times in a Row!
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- President Clinton's October14
Press Conference Statement
Laced with Misrepresentations, Half-Truths,
Distortions and Falsehoods
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- [NOTE: Following is a line-by-line analysis of President
Clinton,s opening statement at his Oct. 14 White House news conference
regarding the Senate,s rejection of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
(CTBT).]
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- 1. CLINTON: Members of the congressional majority have
displayed a reckless partisanship...
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- REALITY
CHECK: One hundred
percent of the Democrats
voted to back Clinton,s position. Republican votes
were split on both
sides, with the prevailing view reflecting the concerns
of numerous
eminent non-partisan experts.
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- 2. CLINTON: ...it threatens America's economic
well-being
and, now, our national security.
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- REALITY
CHECK: The CTBT threatened
our national
security by undermining the long-term safety and reliability
of the
U.S. nuclear deterrent.
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- 3. CLINTON: ...hard line Republicans irresponsibly
forced
a vote against the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty.
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- REALITY CHECK: Hard line
Democrats,
including the President, demanded Senate action on the CTBTclaiming
it
had to be voted on before the convening of an already scheduled
international
CTBT conference in early October. They irresponsibly
threatened to tie
the Senate into procedural knots if they didn,t get
their way. When the
procedures for conducting the debate and the vote
were set, every Democrat
agreed, with the approval of the President. A
single objection from any
one senator could have prevented the
vote.
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- 4.
CLINTON: This was partisan politics of the worst kind,
because it was
so blatant and because of the risks it poses to the safety
of the
American people and the world.
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- REALITY CHECK: This was not
partisan politics. The treaty was addressed on the merits or lack thereof.
The real risks were embodied in a fatally flawed treaty that would have
undermined the U.S. nuclear deterrent upon which the safety of the
American
people and so much of the world depend.
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- 5. CLINTON: What the Senate
seeks is to abandon an agreement
that requires other countries to do
what we have already done...
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- REALITY CHECK: What does
he mean, "we? The Senate was never a party to a permanent, zero-yield
test ban. What does he mean "requires? The treaty is not verifiable,
nor is it enforceable. Russia and China will not accept appropriately
located
monitoring devices. The on-site inspection provisions include
50-square-mile-large
loopholes. We would scrupulously abide by a
zero-yield test ban. Others
already dispute the definition of
zero-yield and can--and will--exploit
ways to hide low-level nuclear
tests. This puts us at an intolerable disadvantage.
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- 6. CLINTON: ...an agreement
that constrains Russia and
China, India and Pakistan from developing
more dangerous nuclear weapons;
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- REALITY CHECK: An
unverifiable,
unenforceable treaty constrains no one but those who
choose to abide by
its terms. Russia and China have already indicated
they will not permit
monitoring devices near their major test
facilities. India and Pakistan,
in conducting sudden nuclear tests last
year, proved they will defy the
international community if they
conclude it is in their interest.
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- 7. CLINTON: ...that helps to
keep other countries out
of the nuclear weapons business
altogether;
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- REALITY CHECK: Countries
will make
such decisions based on their supreme national interests, not
on the
CTBT. If there are doubts about the U.S. nuclear deterrent, if the
U.S.
does not deploy missile defenses, if countries like North Korea are
perceived to have reaped concessions by making nuclear and missile
threats,
other countries may act accordingly. The CTBT may constrain
Costa Rica
and Luxembourg, but what about Syria, Libya, Iran and
Iraq?
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- 8.
CLINTON: ...that improves our ability to monitor dangerous
weapons
activities in other countries.
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- REALITY CHECK: But not
necessarily
the countries we really care about. The Washington Times
reported last
week how Russia and China both have pointedly rejected
allowing appropriate
monitors in the most strategic locations near
their major test facilities.
In addition, the on-site inspection
procedures give inspected countries
rights to refuse specific
inspectors (remember Scott Ritter in Iraq), to
declare certain sites
off-limits (like the Iraqi presidential palaces),
and to restrict
intelligence overflights.
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- 9. CLINTON: Even worse, they have offered no
alternative,
no other means of keeping countries around the world from
developing nuclear
arsenals and threatening our security.
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- REALITY
CHECK: On the contrary,
the alternative is
called "peace through strength, the policy that
won the cold
war--a policy that includes responsible diplomacy, negotiations,
verifiable arms control, renewed security export controls and
counterintelligence,
an aggressive defense of U.S. vital national
interests and values, the
promotion of democracy, the deployment of
missile defense and a long-overdue
rebuilding of U.S. military
strength.
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- 10. CLINTON: In so doing, they ignored the advice of
our top
military leaders...
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- REALITY CHECK: No, they
weighed
it carefully against the contrary advice of 13 top former
commanding generals,
six former secretaries of defense, at least four
former national security
advisors, among many others--whose jobs are
not beholden to the political
fortunes of the incumbent
Administration.
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- 11. CLINTON: ...our most distinguished scientists...
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- REALITY
CHECK: Our weapons
lab directors shared a
different view in testimony before the Senate. For
example, Dr. Paul
Robinson, testified that:
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- "I and others who are or have been responsible for
the safety and reliability of the United States stockpile for nuclear
weapons
have testified to this obvious conclusion many times in the
past. To forgo
that validation through testing is, in short, to live
with uncertainty...
He went on to say:
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- "If the United States
scrupulously restricts itself
to zero yield while other nations may
conduct experiments up to the threshold
of international
detectability-- we will be at an intolerable disadvantage.
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- 12. CLINTON: ...our
closest allies.
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- REALITY CHECK: Whose "advice
is
based on, and almost certainly orchestrated by, the Clinton Administration
and its three year campaign to persuade them to sign and ratify this
treaty,
without the advise and consent of the Senate. In any case, our
allies should
not dictate U.S. security policies.
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- 13. CLINTON: They brushed aside
the views of the American
people...
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- REALITY
CHECK: The American
people have never been
fully informed on the details and ramifications
of the CTBT.
Generalized support, reflected in polls, for the abstract
goal of
ending nuclear testing is not equal to support for an unverifiable,
unenforceable treaty which will harm national security.
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- 14. CLINTON: ...and
betrayed the vision of Presidents
Eisenhower and Kennedy, who set us on
the road to this treaty so many years
ago.
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- REALITY
CHECK: No previous
president, including
especially Eisenhower and Kennedy, supported anything
close to a
zero-yield, permanent, and unverifiable ban on nuclear testing.
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- 15. CLINTON: Even
more troubling are the signs of a new
isolationism among some of the
opponents of the treaty.
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- REALITY CHECK: Like Former
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Sen. Richard Lugar, we presume?
Give us a break.
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- 16. CLINTON: You see it in the refusal to pay our U.N.
dues.
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- REALITY CHECK: On the contrary,
the
Congress is prepared to pay the so-called U.N. "dues if only the
Clinton Administration will drop its extremist fixation on simultaneously
exporting its radicalized pro-abortion agenda. Nevertheless, the so-called
"dues do not reflect vast unrepaid billions which the U.S. has
contributed
to U.N. peacekeeping over the years.
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- 17. CLINTON: You see it in the
woefully inadequate budget
for foreign affairs...
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- REALITY
CHECK: This year,s
proposed foreign aid budget
($12.6 billion) is the same as last year,s
level, which Clinton
approved. This level is appropriate at a time when
the priority is to
hold the line on overall spending and protect the Social
Security trust
fund. The proposed spending is $2 billion below the Clinton
request,
reflecting legitimate concerns about lack of reforms at multilateral
banks and international organizations and the failure of certain
governments
to meet minimal debt relief benchmarks.
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- 18. CLINTON: ...and
includes meeting our obligations
to the Middle East peace
process
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- REALITY CHECK: The amounts
allocated
to Middle East countries were made with the understanding that
additional funds would be made available as warranted by progress on the
Wye River peace process. Notably, AIPAC (the American-Israeli Public
Affairs
Committee) expressed its support for the bill in
writing.
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- 19. CLINTON: ...and to the continuing efforts to destroy
and
safeguard Russian nuclear materials.
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- REALITY
CHECK: The bill allocates
$735 million
(compared to the $1 billion request) for the post-Soviet states.
Clinton claims this shortchanges the $250 million Enhanced Threat
Reduction
Inititative (ETRI), but this is not true. Nothing prevents
spending part
of the allocated amount on the ETRI. Besides, almost $6
billion has already
been spent on such programs, for which there are
increasing concerns about
corruption and money-laundering. A thorough
reexamination is in order.
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- 20. CLINTON: You see it in the refusal to adopt our
proposals
to do our part to stem the tide of global warming...
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- REALITY
CHECK: The Kyoto
Global Warming Treaty,
negotiated and signed by the Clinton Administration
in defiance of the
express wishes of the Senate, cannot, should not, and
will not be
ratified, and the President knows it will not be ratified.
Scientists
are not even sure if there is a "tide of global warming,
much less
what might work to do anything about it. In light of this, the
Administration,s efforts to seek backdoor implementation of the Kyoto
Treaty,s
provisions through executive orders and budget provisions is
an egregious
affront to sound science, to the Senate and to the
Constitutional process.
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- 21. CLINTON: even though these proposals plainly would
create American jobs.
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- REALITY CHECK: Perhaps some,
mostly among regulators, bureaucrats and select government-favored
industries
which will pass along unnecessary higher costs to consumers.
But these
jobs will be more than offset by the many more lost jobs
which will result
if the radical Clinton-Gore extremist environmental
agenda is fully implemented.
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- 22. CLINTON: But by this vote, the Senate majority has
turned its back on 50 years of American leadership against the spread of
weapons of mass destruction.
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- REALITY CHECK: Preposterous.
No previous administration supported a zero-yield, permanent, unverifiable
nuclear test ban. No previous administration has witnessed, covered up,
or refused to punish--on its watch--as much proliferation of such weapons
and related technology as this one.
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- 23. CLINTON: They are saying
America does not need to
lead, either by effort or by example.
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- REALITY
CHECK: On the contrary,
leadership requires
sound national security policies to which the flawed
CTBT will not
contribute.
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- 24. CLINTON: They are saying we don't need our friends
or
allies.
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- REALITY CHECK: America must
do what is
in its own vital national security interest, fully recognizing
that our
nuclear umbrella protects our allies as well as us. Our allies
cannot
and should not dictate our vital national security policies.
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- 25. CLINTON: They are
betting our children's future on
the reckless proposition that we can
go it alone; that at the height of
our power and prosperity, we should
bury our heads in the sand, behind
a wall.
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- REALITY
CHECK: Clinton wants
to bet our children,s
future on a piece of paper and an unproven "stockpile
stewardship
program which its own experts say won,t be fully ready for
another ten
years at best. He suggests that at the height of our prosperity
and
power, we should unilaterally disarm, hold hands, and hope for the
best
on a policy of "trust, but don,t verify. Knowing that we will
scrupulously abide by a treaty when others will not, the heads in the sand
belong to those whose faith in arms control overwhelms their knowledge
of history.
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- 26. CLINTON: That is not where I stand. And that is not
where
the American people stand.
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- REALITY CHECK: It is not
where the Congress stands either. The "withdrawing behind a wall
analogy
is a fanciful straw man.
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- 27. CLINTON: They understand
that, to be strong, we must
not only have a powerful
military...
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- REALITY CHECK: Clinton has
devastated
the military, which has shrunk 40 percent since the Gulf War.
Army
divisions have dropped from 18 to 10. Since 1990, Air Force fighter
wings have shrunk from 36 to 20. Navy ships have dropped from almost 600
at the height of the Reagan buildup to close to 300 now. Spare part,
equipment
and readiness problems abound. Clinton killed the Strategic
Defense Initiative
program, vetoed missile defenses, and clings
feverishly to the outdated
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which is
keeping America undefended against
growing missile threats.
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- 28. CLINTON: ...we
must also lead, as we have done time
and again, and as the whole world
expects us to do, to build a more responsible,
interdependent
world.
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- REALITY CHECK: But not at
the expense
of U.S. national security as would be the case with the CTBT.
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- 29. CLINTON: So we
will continue to protect our interests
around the world. We will
continue to seek from Congress the financial
resources to make that
possible.
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- REALITY CHECK: Under the
Clinton
Administration, the U.S. military has been underfunded and overstretched
to the point that we have close to half the strength in many conventional
weapons categories than we had in 1991. He has presided over inadequate
defense budgets coupled with increasing deployments, causing decreasing
morale and growing problems with retention, recruitment, and readiness.
Today, we are spending just 3 percent of GDP on defense, the lowest since
Pearl Harbor. We are literally not prepared today protectwithout
intolerably
high risk to the lives of our men and women in uniform--all
our vital security
interests in two major theater wars as is our stated
objective.
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- 30. CLINTON: We will continue to pursue the fight against
the
spread of nuclear weapons.
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- REALITY CHECK: Proliferation
has never been greater than during the Clinton Administration, which has
presided over growing threats in North Korea, Iraq, Iran and elsewhere.
Our nuclear secrets have been stolen, many on Clinton,s watch, while
security-related
export controls have been consistently relaxed with
clearly damaging consequences.
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- 31. CLINTON:And we will not -- we will not -- abandon
the commitments inherent in the treaty, and resume testing
ourselves.
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- REALITY CHECK: In other words,
the
Senate will have no say in treaty making, treaty implementing, treaty
advising or treaty consentingso long as Clinton is president. So what was
the point of the ratification debate in the first place? By rejecting the
treaty, the Senate wisely protected the options of future presidents to
deal with critical nuclear security matters without being bound by the
Clinton administration,s wrongheaded policies.
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- 32. CLINTON: I will not let
yesterday's partisanship
stand as our final word on the test ban
treaty.
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- REALITY CHECK: If the President
truly
believes that partisanship is what killed his treaty or that this
Senate is going to ever pass this treaty, then he is dangerously out of
touch with reality. His comment betrays astounding arrogance and contempt
for the very Constitution he was sworn to uphold.
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- 33. CLINTON: Today I say again,
on behalf of the United
States, we will continue the policy we have
maintained since 1992 of not
conducting nuclear tests.
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- REALITY
CHECK: During the
debate, the President sought
support by emphasizing that he would resume
testing if the national
security interest required it. Does anyone believe
he is sincere in
this?
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- 34.
CLINTON: I call on Russia, China, Britain, France
and all other
countries to continue to refrain from testing.
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- REALITY
CHECK: Continue to
refrain? The CIA just
recently reported that it could not determine with
certainty whether
Russia recently conducted a small nuclear test.
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- 35. CLINTON: I call on nations
that have not done so
to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty.
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- REALITY CHECK: The treaty
cannot go
into effect unless the United States ratifies. The United States
has
rejected ratification. The treaty needs to be dropped or renegotiated
to fix its obvious flaws.
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- 36. CLINTON: And I will continue to do all I can to make
that case to the Senate. When all is said and done I have no doubt that
the United States will ratify this treaty.
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- REALITY
CHECK: The treaty
was 19 votes short of that
needed for approval. Ratification will never
happen on his watch. The
President should face up to this reality.
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