White House Reviewing Expanded Nuclear Response Strategy
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What’s the story?
The White House is reported to be reviewing a new, expanded nuclear response strategy drafted by the Pentagon. The new strategy advocates for the "first-use" of targeted, retaliatory nuclear strikes in response to cyberattacks of U.S. or allied nations’ infrastructure or population.
It also embraces, according to the New York Times, "low-yield nuclear weapons", which have been in development since the Obama administration, and could increase the likelihood of nuclear conflict.
Changing policy and restructuring the nuclear arsenal are vastly different in their scale of difficulty, however. Last year Congressional Budget Office estimates put a 30-year reorientation of the U.S. nuclear arsenal at a cost of $1.2 trillion. The White House would likely need repeated congressional budget approvals over multiple years to secure that level of funding.
The Pentagon report points to expanded cyber capability on the part of China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, and expanded nuclear capability of all but Iran, given the Iran nuclear deal, which it maintains justifies a new level of readiness and new rules of engagement.
What do you think?
Do you support an expansion of U.S. nuclear strategy or the U.S. nuclear arsenal? Do you support the continued development of "low-yield" weapons that might be more tempting to use given their comparative likely degree of destruction? What about legislation that restricts the use of presidential power to launch nuclear strikes without congressional approval? Is that an important part of the puzzle, or not?
Tell us in the comments what you think, then use the Take Action button to tell your reps!
— Asha Sanaker
(Photo Credit: Wikipedia / Creative Commons)
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