President Obama on nuclear disarmament

...a word his predecessor could not even pronounce.
Barack Obama has returned to the USA after his first visit to Europe as president. After eight years of George W. Bush and his neocon administration many Europeans were reassured to hear an American president talk what sounded like reason.
In Prague President Obama delievered an excellent speech to a crowd of thousands. This was his first major address on foreign policy after his inauguration and he used it to pledge himself and his country to working for a world without nuclear weapons:
"Just as we stood for freedom in the 20th century, we must stand together for the right of people everywhere to live free from fear in the 21st. And as a nuclear power - as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon - the United States has a moral responsibility to act. We cannot succeed in this endeavor alone, but we can lead it.
So today, I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons. This goal will not be reached quickly - perhaps not in my lifetime. It will take patience and persistence. But now we, too, must ignore the voices who tell us that the world cannot change".
The entire speech can be found at the website of the US embassy in Prague and is well worth reading:

http://prague.usembassy.gov/obama.html