Study Calls for New U.S. Nuclear Weapons Targeting Policy

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By Hans M. Kristensen

The Federation of American Scientists and Natural Resources Defense Council today published a study that calls for fundamental changes in the way the United States military plans for using nuclear weapons.

The studyFrom Counterforce to Minimal Deterrence: A New Nuclear Policy on the Path Toward Eliminating Nuclear Weaponsrecommends abandoning the decades-old “counterforce” doctrine and replacing it with a new and much less ambitious targeting policy the authors call Minimal Deterrence. [Update: seeWashington Post – Report Urges Updating of Nuclear Weapons Policy]

Global Security Newswirereportedlast week that Department of Defense officials have concluded that significant reductions to the nuclear arsenal cannot be made unless President Barack Obama scales back the nation’s strategic war plan. The FAS/NRDC report presents a plan for how to do that.

The last time outdated nuclear guidance stood in the way of nuclear cuts was in 1997, when then President Clinton had to change President Reagan’s 17-year old guidance to enable U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) to go to the START-III force level that the Bush administration subsequently adopted as the Moscow Treaty force level. The series of STRATCOMforce structure studiesexamining lower force levels is described inThe Matrix of Deterrence.

Resources:Full Report|US Nuclear Forces 2009|United States Reaches Moscow Treaty Warhead Limit Early|Press Conference Video