Pentagon unveils new nuclear weapons strategy, ending Obama-era push to reduce U.S. arsenal

Source: The Washington Post




By Paul Sonne February 2 at 2:30 PM

The Pentagon released a new nuclear arms policy on Friday that calls for the introduction of two new types of weapons, effectively ending Obama-era efforts to reduce the size and scope of the U.S. arsenal and minimize the role of nuclear weapons in defense planning.

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said in an introductory note to the new policy – the first update since 2010 – that the changes reflect a need to “look reality in the eye” and “see the world as it is, not as we wish it to be.”

The Obama administration’s policy hinged on what the former president called a moral obligation for the United States to lead by example in ridding the world of nuclear weapons. But officials in the Trump administration and the U.S. military argue that the former president’s approach proved overly idealistic, particularly as Russia reemerged as a foe, and failed to convince U.S. nuclear adversaries to follow suit.

“Over the course of the last several years, Russia and China have been building new types and kinds of nuclear weapons, both delivery systems and actual warheads,” Air Force General Paul J. Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told journalists earlier this week. “We have not, which means the capability of Russian and Chinese nuclear arsenals is actually getting better against ours.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pentagon-unveils-new-nuclear-weapons-strategy-ending-obama-era-push-to-reduce-us-arsenal/2018/02/02/fd72ad34-0839-11e8-ae28-e370b74ea9a7_story.html