Feinstein: Let's commit to a nuclear-free world

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who will chair the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in the 111th Congress, warns in today's Wall Street Journal of a potential "cascade" of nuclear proliferation unless President-elect Obama reverses the nuclear policies of the past administration, which sought to expand the U.S. nuclear arsenal.  "I was 12 when atomic bombs flattened Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing more than 200,000 people. The horrific images that went around the world have stayed with me all my life," she writes.  "Today, there are enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world hundreds of times. And we now face the chilling prospect of nuclear terrorism.  The bottom line: We must recognize nuclear weapons for what they are -- not a deterrent, but a grave and gathering threat to humanity. As president, Barack Obama should dedicate himself to their world-wide elimination."