HOME :: PUBLICATIONS :: Obama's Nutty Nuclear Notion, by PETER BROOKES

Obama's Nutty Nuclear Notion

by PETER BROOKES February 28, 2012
Reports last week have Team Obama considering cuts in our strategic nuclear forces - by as much as 80 percent. Not good.
 
These accounts say the Pentagon has been ordered to study the possibility of reducing the number of deployed nuclear warheads to several levels - 1,000 to 1,100; 700 to 800; 300 to 400.
 
This would be on top of the cuts agreed to in 2010 in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia, which drops our deployed nukes to 1,550 by 2018. (Entering office, President Obama inherited about 2,200 warheads.)
 
One big question is: Why?
 
First, money. Absent reform of the big "entitlement" programs that are ballooning our federal budget, defense appears (falsely) as the place to find some cash.
 
With the White House seeking to downsize conventional forces in the next budget, going after strategic forces down the line might ease the sting of the coming Pentagon cuts, because it would happen over time.
 
Then, too, chopping US strategic forces is integral to President Obama's national-security "theology," including his dreams of a nuke-free world and of taking America down the mythical road to "nuclear zero."
 
Obama is rightly concerned about nuclear proliferation. Iran is on the brink of "nukedom"; Syria may still have a program; North Korea helps others gain nuclear knowhow; Pakistan may be bolstering its arsenal; Russia and China are modernizing.
 
Where the administration gets it wrong is in its belief that if we reduce or eliminate our nuclear holdings - unilaterally, bilaterally or multilaterally through a treaty - others would, too.
 
It's a great theory, but there's no evidence that it would work in practice.
 
Instead, were we to shrink our stockpiles enough, such countries as China that now have fewer nukes than we do might move to match or exceed our diminished holdings - creating possibly unfriendly strategic peers. There are other risks, too.
 
Cutting US forces to 300 deployed warheads - a level that experts say we haven't seen since the early 1950s - might force us to alter our strategic doctrine. Right now, that's a "counterforce" policy - we target opposition-nuclear forces. A smaller force might require us to put "countervalue" targets, that is, large population centers, in the crosshairs.
 
No shortage of moral issues there.
 
The nuke cuts would also heighten the danger to our conventional forces. How? Without an iron-clad US nuclear deterrent to backstop our troops, foes would be more tempted to roll the dice and challenge us or allies that rely on our nuclear umbrella.
 
Yes, Republican presidents have ditched plenty of nukes over the years. But those reductions came with US arms-control wins, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union and our indisputable conventional superiority.
 
The world remains a dangerous place of rising powers, rogue states and much international uncertainty. As always, now's a good time for "peace through strength," involving robust conventional, nuclear and missile-defense forces.
 
These possible nuclear cuts are just one more bad - in fact, dangerous - national-security notion floating around the White House. It'd be a big mistake for this nuclear nonsense to become a reality.
 
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Peter Brookes is Senior Fellow, National Security Affairs and Chung Ju-Yung Fellow for Policy Studies in the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation.

Peter Brookes is a Senior Fellow for National Security Affairs at the Heritage Foundation and is a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He writes a weekly column for the New York Post and frequently appears on FOX, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, NPR and BBC. He is the author of: "A Devil’s Triangle: Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction and Rogue States." Mr. Brookes served in the U.S. Navy and is now a Commander in the naval reserves. He has over 1300 flight hours aboard Navy EP-3 aircraft. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy; the Defense Language Institute; the Naval War College; the Johns Hopkins University; and is pursuing a Doctorate at Georgetown University.

Peter Brookes is a Heritage Foundation senior fellow and a former deputy assistant secretary of defense. 
peterbrookes@heritage.org

 
Twitter: @Brookes_Peter



blog comments powered by Disqus

Bombshell: Ryan Lizza reports that DOJ fought to conceal warrant from James Rosen

May 24, 2013  03:42 PM

Unreal. In an explosive new bombshell report, the New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza claims that the Obama administration deliberately kept Fox News reporter James Rosen in the dark about the warrant to search through his personal emails. The Obama administration argued it might need to monitor James Rosen's email account over lengthy period of time… newyorker.com/online/blogs/n…— Ryan […]

‘All Quiet on the West Wing Front': Sarah Palin and others bring scandalpalooza to the big screen

May 24, 2013  02:58 PM

Coming soon to a theater near you?

Down and out in LA: Outgoing Mayor Villaraigosa tries hand at hitchhiking [photo]

May 24, 2013  02:40 PM

It’s come to this. As Twitchy reported, outgoing LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has seen better days. But, rather than keeping a low profile and trying to get back on track, he’s milking his desperation for laughs. Or something. We’re not really sure. Take a look for yourself: Mayor who has no car hitching a ride […]

Shorter David Axelrod: That Washington state bridge? The GOP collapsed that

May 24, 2013  02:03 PM

It took less than an hour for breathless libs to find a pitifully stupid way to blame the GOP for the Washington state bridge collapse. Obama henchman David Axelrod is a little slow, but half a day later, he is so on it. Collapse of bridge in WA underscores urgent need for infrastructure investments. Will latest […]

Did Obama forget to return Marine's salute?

May 24, 2013  01:29 PM

From the pool report: Under gray skies and intermittent drizzle, President Obama boarded Marine One at 9:30 a.m. EDT in an open press event. A few White House regulars were atwitter (and on Twitter) when the President walked directly up the steps of Marine One without saluting the Marine on duty. He soon came out […]

FSM Archives

  FSM Archive   Search Must Reads
More in PUBLICATIONS ( 1 OF 25 ARTICLES )