Setting a good example

Setting a good example

The Herald, Rock Hill, S.C.: The decision by the Obama administration to be more transparent about the nation’s nuclear stockpile sets a good example for other nuclear nations.

The administration recently disclosed that the United States has 5,113 nuclear warheads in its stockpile and “several thousand” more retired warheads awaiting the junk pile, according to the Pentagon.

Those figures had been a closely kept secret during the cold war when both the Soviet Union and the U.S. were involved in a frenzied arms race. But now, as nuclear nations seek to reduce their stockpiles, secure their nuclear weapons so they don’t fall into the hands of terrorists, and discourage other nations from developing nuclear weapons, there is no need for secrecy.

In fact, it could be counterproductive.