Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association in Washington.

WSJ: U.S. and Russia Push Arms-Control Talks Forward

Eugene Carroll and Jack Mendelsohn of the Arms Control Association?

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The letter was organised by two advocacy groups in Washington, the National Iranian American Council and the Arms Control Association, and signed by 24 American generals, former diplomats and experts.

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"The United States should be able to clearly state that the only purpose we hold nuclear weapons for is to deter the use of nuclear weapons, " said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association.

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White House officials wouldn't lay out their targets for the treaty with Russia, but the Arms Control Association's Mr. Kimball said deployed nuclear weapons in each country could be reduced by 30% to 40% from the current limit of 2, 200.

WSJ: U.S. and Russia Push Arms-Control Talks Forward

Amazingly, some of those same people -- including Spurgeon Keeney , president of the Arms Control Association and Mary Elizabeth Hoinkes , a former U.S. Arms Control Agency lawyer, who are quoted in today's Washington Post -- are sharply critical of even these modest efforts to understand and begin to address the threat that they purport to regard as a serious one (at least when opposing missile defenses).

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"China's strength can play a positive role in the region, " said Xu Guangyu, a retired PLA general and now a senior researcher at the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association.

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