Obama’s nuke strategy splits many differences
Published 10:31 pm Tuesday, April 6, 2010
WASHINGTON — With the new nuclear arms strategy he unveiled Tuesday, President Barack Obama aims to prod the world toward disarmament and stronger anti-terrorism efforts by rallying disparate interests — arms controllers, U.S. allies, nuclear and non-nuclear nations and Republicans.
Experts across the spectrum agreed that the Nuclear Posture Review represents a significant retreat by the U.S. from its traditional posture of reserving the right to use nuclear force against other nations, even as it maintains a robust arsenal.
Still the new strategy isn’t as far-reaching as liberals had hoped or conservatives had feared. It contains initiatives sought by both sides, including Republican senators whose votes he needs to ratify the new arms-reduction treaty that he’s to sign Thursday with Russia.
While the review says that the U.S. won’t develop or test new nuclear weapons, it allows what some experts see as a back door for expanding warhead production capacity if circumstances change.
The strategy also calls for a program to modernize aging nuclear weapons facilities, at a cost of about $5 billion over the next five years, acknowledging a GOP demand.
It also raises the prospect of billions in new spending on long-range conventional weapons, improved missile defenses to protect U.S. allies, and advanced radars and sensors intended to give the president more time to decide whether to launch a nuclear strike.
While it says the U.S. would no longer threaten nuclear force against non-nuclear powers that launched biological or chemical attacks, they would have to be in compliance with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the U.S. reserves the right to change the policy in response to advances by U.S. foes in biological warfare technology.
