Obama’s Pointless Nuclear Security Summit

President Obama on Thursday is hosting his final Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C. with leaders from more than 50 countries — but Russia and Pakistan will be noticeably absent, making the meeting mostly pointless.

While Obama has made nuclear clean-up initiatives a core tenet of his presidency and it was one of his campaign platforms, this summit is expected to be ineffective. The summit will focus on ISIS and what would happen if they were to obtain dangerous and radioactive “dirty bombs,” as well as fears of attacks by the terror group on nuclear facilities.

The summit takes place just a week after the horrific bombings in Brussels as ISIS continues to engage in a global war.

It is almost laughable that Obama, who once called ISIS a “jayvee” team, is looking to talk tough on the terrorist group. The Obama administration has led from behind when it comes to the Islamic State, but even more so when it comes to foreign policy as a whole.

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Russia’s decision not to send a representative to the summit is seen as a power move by Putin and a slap in the face to the United States. A large majority of the world’s nuclear weapons are owned by the United States and Russia.

What’s more, Pakistan’s decision not to participate in the summit is worrisome, seeing as it has one of the fastest growing nuclear stockpiles in the world. Pakistan also has in place a program to produce highly enriched uranium — the same technology Iran is known to be using in its nuclear program.

What’s worse is that these nuclear weapons amassed by Pakistan could end up in the hands of jihadists as terrorism plagues the region, with Pakistan at the center.

Representatives from Iran will not be in attendance as they were not invited, but in a speech, Ayatollah Khamenei said Iran would not stop its drive toward a nuclear future. “Those who say the future is in negotiations and not in missiles are either ignorant or traitors,” said Ayatollah Khamenei.

Even though Obama is quick to tout the Iran deal as an accomplishment, it has been widely criticized. The country test-fired ballistic missiles in the weeks leading up to the official agreement and on Tuesday was found to have been in defiance of a UN Security Council resolution. But the action had many in Congress, including Democrats, wanting to re-instate tough sanctions on Iran — something the president has chosen not to do.

“The Nuclear Security Summits have had a positive effect, but the strategic goal of developing an effective global nuclear security system remains unachieved,” the Nuclear Threat Initiative said in a report.

But Ben Rhodes, a national security adviser to Obama, praised the president’s efforts on Tuesday. “It is harder than ever before for terrorists and bad actors to acquire nuclear material,” said Rhodes.

Wishful thinking on the part of the White House.