It was a big deal when the President of the United States and the Premier of the Soviet Union met at the Geneva Summit in 1985 to discuss eliminating the danger of nuclear warfare. This could have been a world changing event.

It was Gorbachev who suggested that both nations end the cold war arms race by destroying all nuclear weapons. Reagan declined. He made his Strategic Defense Initiative, colloquially known as “Star Wars,” a focal point in America: a system which would never work according to experts.

The two men discussed the democratization of the Soviet Union as Mr. Gorbachev revealed his plans for his nation’s future. Eventually an agreement was reached to end the proliferation of nuclear weapons, but not the destruction of thousands of existing nuclear warheads.

On December 26, 1991, the Soviet Union was dismantled.

Reagan missed an opportunity to save the world from the threat of nuclear warfare. Because he refused to end the nuclear arms race for once and for all, nine nations have nuclear capability in 2020.

Russia, 6,850 nuclear warheads

The United States of America, 6,185 nuclear warheads

France, 300 nuclear warheads

China, 280 nuclear warheads

The United Kingdom, 215 nuclear warheads

Pakistan, 145 nuclear warheads

India, 135 nuclear warheads

Israel, 80 nuclear warheads

North Korea, 15 nuclear warheads

Reagan could have been a great president.

 

The Truth Lives Here

Op-ed by James Turnage

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Photo courtesy of the Official CTBTO Photostream

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