USsays it won't rule out nuclear first strike, because allies wouldn't trust itotherwise
Published time: 29 Mar, 2019 02:35 Edited time: 29Mar, 2019 09:10 APentagon official has said that the US will retain the right to carry out anuclear strike in response to a conventional attack. A 'no-first-use' policywould erode US allies' belief that they are protected, he said. Washingtonhas no plans to reverse its policy of "no first use" of nukes, whichmeans it can bomb its adversaries with nuclear weapons under "extremecircumstances," Deputy Undersecretary of Defense DavidTrachtenberg said in his prepared remarks to the Senate Armed ServiceCommittee hearing on Thursday. Trachtenbergclaimed that if the US changes its take on the issue, which he described as "constructiveambiguity," it "wouldundermine US extended deterrence and damage the health of our alliances becauseit would call into question the assurance that the United States would come tothe defense of allies in extreme circumstances." Thisuncertainty might prompt these countries to arm themselves with nuclearweapons, he said. Thehawkish Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) commissioned by President Donald Trump in2018 lists a range of circumstances under which the US might consider strikingfirst, such as significant strategic attacks on the US, allied or partnercivilian infrastructure, forces, their command and control, as well as warningand assessment capabilities with conventional weapons. Thatclause represents a major shift from the previous US nuclear doctrine, and hasdrawn strong criticism from Moscow, which accused Washington of lowering the nuclear threshold andexacerbating the nuclear arms race. In addition to threatening nuclearannihilation, the review sets the stage for upgrading and expanding the alreadyvast US nuclear arsenal. The nuclear build-up envisions developing new types oflow-yield warheads that could be placed on submarine-launched ballisticmissiles and on sea-launched cruise missiles. The"mini-nuke" produced by the Pantex plant in Texas has the relativelysmall explosive power of around five kilotons of TNT, in an attempt to make theUS deterrent more "flexible."According to some experts, it can be launched from the B-21 Raider heavy bomber, which is beingdeveloped, making a preemptive nuclear raid more of a probability. Russiaand its weapons modernization program has been singled out in the review as oneof the reasons for a major build-up of the US nuclear triad. But unlike theAmerican one, the Russian military doctrine allows the use of nukes only ifunder attack by weapons of mass destruction or when Russia's sovereignty is atstake. Whilereinforcing its own nuclear deterrent, the US plans to spend billions ofdollars upgrading its 150 B61 nuclear bombs scattered across its four Europeanallies: Germany, Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands – as well as Turkey. Russiahas repeatedly warned Washington that the deployment of the new bombs wouldviolate the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
