Restore our Nuclear Deterrent

North Korea may welcome President Obama to the region this week by conducting its fourth nuclear test in the past eight years. Guess how many nuclear tests the United States has conducted in that period? None.

In fact, the U.S. has not conducted an actual underground explosion to test any of its aging nuclear weapons since 1992.

Even though an actual majority of the Senate long ago rejected a treaty that would preclude us from assuring the safety, reliability and effectiveness of our nuclear deterrent the only proven way – by periodically testing them in this fashion – we haven’t done so.

So, if Pyongyang actually does conduct a nuclear test in coming days, instead of uselessly condemning it, we ought to conduct one of our own – and begin rebuilding our deterrent capabilities.