Yesterday a video started circulating of Senator Barack Obama making some pretty basic but still somewhat eyebrow raising declarations in his bid for the candidacy.

photo credit: michelhrv

“I am the only major candidate who opposed this war from the beginning, as president I will end it. Secondly I will cut tens of billions of dollars of wasteful spending, I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems, I will not weaponize space, I will slow our development of future combat systems and I will institute an Independent Defense Priorities Board to ensure that the Quadrennial Defense Review is not used to justify unnecessary spending. Third, I will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons, to seek that goal I will not develop new nuclear weapons, I will seek a global ban on fissile material, I will negotiate with Russia to take our ICBM’s off hair trigger alert and to achieve deep cut in our government arsenals.”

The video was made for the organization Caucus4Priorities whose stated mission is to “redirect 15% of the Pentagon’s discretionary budget away from obsolete Cold War weapons towards education, healthcare, job training, alternative energy development, world hunger, deficit reduction. This 15% cut, or $60 billion dollars, on obsolete weapons systems and the further proliferation of nuclear weapons does not include the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and in no way impacts homeland security or our defense.”

The video has started to receive scrutiny throughout the right side of the blogosphere.

Red State which picked up on the Senator’s claim to end the sale of fissile material noted:

Of the 30 countries with nuclear power, the percentage of electricity supplied by nuclear ranged widely: from a high of 78 percent in France; to 54 percent in Belgium; 39 percent in Republic of Korea; 37 percent in Switzerland; 30 percent in Japan; 19 percent in the USA; 16 percent in Russia; 4 percent in South Africa; and 2 percent in China.

Powerline Blog called it a “McGovernite credo like a catechism”.

In short there is nothing new under the sun here in terms of policy proposals by the Senator, but we’ve rarily had it all condensed into one short burst of demilitarization speak, making it sound collectively like a pretty weak security stance. Ten years ago everything said would have sounded pretty sane, in the year 2008 though, it sounds like a little much. Back in the 90’s Russia and China were not rapidly moving to consolidate power and disrupt the world marketplace, heck Russia was doing everything it could just to survive. Iran and North Korea were not known to be so far in developing nuclear technology. Terrorism hadn’t reached our shores. We and the Chinese were not hitting satellites with missiles and everything seemed, well, eerily calm in comparison to today.

So my thinking is, whether these are all wonderful policy stances or not in the eyes of the American people, we haven’t heard the last of this issue.

Some Quick Background on Obama’s Plans

- Defense Review Board
In November of 2006 Senator Obama vowed to create this board. An article by Jen DiMascio entitled Democrats Square Off On Defense Budgeting in Defense Daily noted:

Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) also shied away from pledging specific program kills. He vowed to create a Defense Priorities Board that would evaluate the value and effectiveness of key weapons systems for the 2009 Quadrennial Defense Review. But he defended the C-130J, calling it a “vital resource” for active duty forces and the National Guard.

What might these cuts include? Three programs Senator Obama does support brought money to his home state as part of his fellow Illinois Senator Dick Durbin’s approval of $84 Million in defense funding projects for the state. From US Fed News on September 26, 2006:

* Real-Time Drinking Water Security Program, Champaign: $1 million to develop and evaluate a means to detect downstream terrorist attacks on drinking water distribution systems and treatment plants at the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL). CERL is currently evaluating the first real-time detection and response sensor suite capable of detecting and responding to such attacks. Senator Durbin worked with Senator Obama to secure these funds. CERL, in Champaign, would compete for this initiative.

* Humvee Hybrid Technology Conversion, Chicago: $1 million for the Illinois Institute of Technology to apply its existing expertise in the field of hybrid vehicle systems to implement a cost effective conversion kit to retrofit U.S. Army Humvee vehicles with electric hybrid systems. Prototype work suggests such retrofits will increase gains in vehicle acceleration and fuel efficiency by over 50% and in a cost effective manner. Senator Durbin worked with Senator Obama to secure these funds.

* Fuel Cells for Mobile Robotics Systems Project, Chicago: $1 million for Chicago State University to continue developing fuel cell technologies for the power needs of mobile robotics systems in the defense arena. A three-year program is required to develop a fuel cell technology package with full functional capabilities and one that is production ready. Senator Durbin worked with Senator Obama to secure these funds.

- Weaponizing Space
In the January 21st 2008 Aviation Week & Space Technology James R. Asker noted that Senator Obama would like to work with China to halt the movement toward weaponizing space.

- Nuclear Proliferation
Senator Obama has frequently noted his desire to remove nuclear weapons from the world. In a speech to DePaul University in October 2007 Obama said:

Here’s what I’ll say as President: America seeks a world in which there are no nuclear weapons.

We will not pursue unilateral disarmament. As long as nuclear weapons exist, we’ll retain a strong nuclear deterrent. But we’ll keep our commitment under the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty on the long road towards eliminating nuclear weapons. We’ll work with Russia to take U.S. and Russian ballistic missiles off hair-trigger alert, and to dramatically reduce the stockpiles of our nuclear weapons and material. We’ll start by seeking a global ban on the production of fissile material for weapons. And we’ll set a goal to expand the U.S.-Russian ban on intermediate-range missiles so that the agreement is global.

As we do this, we’ll be in a better position to lead the world in enforcing the rules of the road if we firmly abide by those rules. It’s time to stop giving countries like Iran and North Korea an excuse. It’s time for America to lead. When I’m President, we’ll strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty so that nations that don’t comply will automatically face strong international sanctions.