The Show's The Thing

"There is no doubt that if these madmen [Islamic State jihadists] ever got their hands on a nuclear bomb or nuclear material they most certainly would use it to kill as many innocent people as possible."
"Just the smallest amount of plutonium -- about the size of an apple -- could kill and injure hundreds of thousands of innocent people. It would be a humanitarian, political, economic and environmental catastrophe with global ramifications for decades."
"It would change our world. So we cannot be complacent."
U.S. President Barack Obama

A previous Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague in March 2014. Analysts suspect this week’s summit in Washington may be the last for some time. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

The Washington summit gathering world leaders to discuss once again disposal and security of nuclear material to ensure unauthorized handling of the materials, let alone the acquisition of nuclear bombs never fall into the hands of groups or individuals with psychopathic, nefarious plans for their use brought a consensus of agreement on the responsibility to act. To acquire the funding to aid in securing equipment and training in proper techniques for countries requiring that, and to protect nuclear sites.

Funding was pledged to help countries store nuclear materials and to provide training and appropriate equipment to Mexico, Peru, Jordan and Colombia. Funding will also be apportioned to aid in protecting vulnerable sites in Ukraine, Thailand and Egypt. Those international organizations involved in the global nuclear file like Interpol and the International Atomic Energy Agency, will also receive additional funding from this collective source.

The absence of the world's largest possessor of nuclear weapons was noted for the huge gap it represents in reaching all principals. For reasons all its own Russia, which had benefited hugely after the dissolution of the Soviet Union when world powers came together to fund assistance to the country in securing its nuclear stockpiles, decided not to attend this critical meeting of international dimensions on a subject vital to world stability.

Russia prides itself on its possession of world-class, technically advanced military machinery and weaponry. Perhaps if Russia had been the initiator of the series of nuclear summits it would have been pleased to officiate and give direction to other countries of the world. Doubtless, the Kremlin felt its dignity of personage and power would be impaired if it succumbed to being an integral part of a significant summit not as the major leading light, but as one among many overseen by the U.S., leading to a dimming of its illustrious reputation.

As it is, this fourth of a succession of American-initiated (Obama administration) nuclear summits elicited 260 commitments from various countries, over time. Of that number fully three0quarters of the commitments had been reached. Over a dozen nations have succeeded in removing their highly enriched uranium, while other countries now have improved protection and security procedures in place. 

It is a known that al-Qaeda has pursued nuclear material, according to President Obama's revelations. It was also recently revealed that Islamic State members have demonstrated interest in in Belgium's nuclear sites. A few former employees of Belgian nuclear sites have departed the country to fight in Syria as jihadis. An individual linked with the November 13 Paris attacks had been found to have set up surveillance of a Belgian nuclear employee.

Accolades would be appropriate for Mr. Obama's outreach on this vital file were it not for the fact that he also set in motion a landscape whereby the Islamic Republic of Iran could continue without penalty its ongoing search for nuclear bombs, despite the Obama administration's insistence that the agreement reached by the permanent members of the Security Council and Germany, the U.S. leading, restores full funding to Iran through the removal of effective sanctions, enabling it to get back on track, with a slight delay to achieve its nuclear goal.

The summit on nuclear safety has, then, two significant flaws. Of the two nations whose nuclear arms' possession dwarf every other country of the world, both in arms-cache and nuclear installation, each asks of others what they themselves have failed in. As titular head of the free world, President Obama failed to safeguard the world against both an Iranian and a North Korean nuclear program. And as the influential nation right behind the U.S. in command of infrastructure and weapons, Russia has demonstrated its indifference to nuclear order on the world stage.

A still from the propaganda film shows an imagined missile attack on Washington DC. Photograph: YouTube/DPRK