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US shifts on nuclear weapons strategy
By Daniel Dombey in Washington
Published: April 7 2010 03:00 | Last updated: April 7 2010 03:00
The Obama administration yesterday announced a doctrine to reduce US reliance on nuclear weapons, bolster the global non-proliferation regime and pave the way for Congressional ratification of an arms control deal with Russia.
The policy renounces the use of nuclear weapons in deterring chemical and biological attacks, while retaining the option against states such as Iran and North Korea that do not comply with the nuclear non-proliferation treaty or associated agreements.
"If a non-nuclear weapons state is in compliance with the non-proliferation treaty and its obligations, the US pledges not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against it," said Robert Gates, secretary of defence. Any chemical or biological attack against the US or its allies "would face the prospect of a devastating conventional military response".
Mr Gates said the document - the first such US doctrine to be wholly unclassified - removed ambiguity about the US nuclear posture. Nevertheless, the review says that deterring nuclear attack is the "fundamental role of US nuclear weapons", less definitive language than had been championed by some arms control supporters, who had wanted deterrence to be the exclusive purpose of the US arsenal.
Arguing that the US's "massive nuclear arsenal . . . is poorly suited to address the challenges posed by suicidal terrorists and unfriendly regimes seeking nuclear weapons", the review rules out another generation of US nuclear warheads.
The review comes at a crucial time for Barack Obama - ahead of the signing tomorrow of the president's recently concluded treaty with Russia on strategic weapons, a summit of more than 40 leaders next week on nuclear safety, and a conference next month on the non-proliferation treaty.
In that context, Mr Obama had two competing goals in the posture review.
One is to set an example of nuclear restraint that could encourage nonnuclear weapons states to agree limits on sensitive technology in next month's non-proliferation conference. The other is to reassure Republicans - whose votes the administration needs for Senate ratification of the "Start" treaty with Russia - that US commitment to the nuclear deterrent is strong.
"You have to view Start as part of the administration's overall nuclear policy," Michele Flournoy, undersecretary for policy at the Pentagon, recently told the Financial Times, citing the administration's non-proliferation and arms control effort as well as a recent increase in spending on the nuclear stockpile.
"When you take all those things together as a package we will have, I believe, strong bipartisan support for that package as a whole."
Yesterday Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, insisted Russia would retain the right to quit the Start agreement if US plans to develop missile defence systems in eastern Europe threatened Moscow's strike potential. But he said initial US plans to develop regional missile defence in countries such as Romania and Bulgaria did not pose a threat to Russia.
Yesterday's review also defers a decision on whether to reduce some 200 tactical and sub-strategic US nuclear weapons deployed in Europe ahead of consultations with Nato.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Ellen Tauscher, undersecretary of state for arms control, highlighted the importance of talks this year to revise Nato's guiding "strategic concept". She said: "These are not decisions that we will make unilaterally - Nato still has to agree."
Feelings are particularly strong in Germany, which still has US nuclear weapons on its soil.
Additional reporting by James Blitz, Gerrit Weisman and Catherine Belton
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
US shifts on nuclear weapons strategy
By Daniel Dombey in Washington
Published: April 7 2010 03:00 | Last updated: April 7 2010 03:00
The Obama administration yesterday announced a doctrine to reduce US reliance on nuclear weapons, bolster the global non-proliferation regime and pave the way for Congressional ratification of an arms control deal with Russia.
The policy renounces the use of nuclear weapons in deterring chemical and biological attacks, while retaining the option against states such as Iran and North Korea that do not comply with the nuclear non-proliferation treaty or associated agreements.
"If a non-nuclear weapons state is in compliance with the non-proliferation treaty and its obligations, the US pledges not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against it," said Robert Gates, secretary of defence. Any chemical or biological attack against the US or its allies "would face the prospect of a devastating conventional military response".
Mr Gates said the document - the first such US doctrine to be wholly unclassified - removed ambiguity about the US nuclear posture. Nevertheless, the review says that deterring nuclear attack is the "fundamental role of US nuclear weapons", less definitive language than had been championed by some arms control supporters, who had wanted deterrence to be the exclusive purpose of the US arsenal.
Arguing that the US's "massive nuclear arsenal . . . is poorly suited to address the challenges posed by suicidal terrorists and unfriendly regimes seeking nuclear weapons", the review rules out another generation of US nuclear warheads.
The review comes at a crucial time for Barack Obama - ahead of the signing tomorrow of the president's recently concluded treaty with Russia on strategic weapons, a summit of more than 40 leaders next week on nuclear safety, and a conference next month on the non-proliferation treaty.
In that context, Mr Obama had two competing goals in the posture review.
One is to set an example of nuclear restraint that could encourage nonnuclear weapons states to agree limits on sensitive technology in next month's non-proliferation conference. The other is to reassure Republicans - whose votes the administration needs for Senate ratification of the "Start" treaty with Russia - that US commitment to the nuclear deterrent is strong.
"You have to view Start as part of the administration's overall nuclear policy," Michele Flournoy, undersecretary for policy at the Pentagon, recently told the Financial Times, citing the administration's non-proliferation and arms control effort as well as a recent increase in spending on the nuclear stockpile.
"When you take all those things together as a package we will have, I believe, strong bipartisan support for that package as a whole."
Yesterday Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, insisted Russia would retain the right to quit the Start agreement if US plans to develop missile defence systems in eastern Europe threatened Moscow's strike potential. But he said initial US plans to develop regional missile defence in countries such as Romania and Bulgaria did not pose a threat to Russia.
Yesterday's review also defers a decision on whether to reduce some 200 tactical and sub-strategic US nuclear weapons deployed in Europe ahead of consultations with Nato.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Ellen Tauscher, undersecretary of state for arms control, highlighted the importance of talks this year to revise Nato's guiding "strategic concept". She said: "These are not decisions that we will make unilaterally - Nato still has to agree."
Feelings are particularly strong in Germany, which still has US nuclear weapons on its soil.
Additional reporting by James Blitz, Gerrit Weisman and Catherine Belton
