The Work We Must Do Together

If this news escaped you, I wouldn't be surprised, since the daily blather passed it by quickly. But on Wednesday, President Obama addressed the UN General Assembly for the first time. He told the assembly "it is my deeply held belief that in the year 2009 -- more than at any point in human history -- the interests of nations and peoples are shared.... In this hall, we come from many places, but we share a common future. No longer do we have the luxury of indulging our differences to the exclusion of the work that we must do together." After noting the steps he's taken to return the U.S. to the community of nations, he outlined the "Four Pillars" he believes are "fundamental to the future that we want for our children": "non-proliferation and disarmament; the promotion of peace and security; the preservation of our planet; and a global economy that advances opportunity for all people."

On Thursday, President Obama became the first U.S. President to chair a session of the Security Council, and it passed a resolution to strengthen commitment to stop nuclear proliferation and to reduce existing nuclear weapons until there are no more. The resolution passed with broad support, in large part because President Obama agreed that the U.S. was no exception--it had to accept limitations on nukes, a common sense stand that the previous Bush administration refused to take.

After the vote, President Obama pointed out that "this very institution was founded at the dawn of the atomic age, in part because man's capacity to kill had to be contained. And although we averted a nuclear nightmare during the Cold War, we now face proliferation of a scope and complexity that demands new strategies and new approaches...Once more, the United Nations has a pivotal role to play in preventing this crisis. The historic resolution we just adopted enshrines our shared commitment to the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. And it brings Security Council agreement on a broad framework for action to reduce nuclear dangers as we work toward that goal. "

Perhaps to those for whom nuclear weapons are just words, the latest outrageous statements by the arrogantly clueless were better candy. But for those of us who grew up with the threat of nuclear death at any moment, and especially those of us who watched the courageous attempt of President Kennedy to bring sanity back into the equation, this was an important day.