Supporters of this revamped weapon of mass destruction argue that, by ensuring greater precision in bombing \u201cenemy\u201d targets, reducing the yield of a nuclear blast, and making a nuclear attack more \u201cthinkable,\u201d the B61 Model 12 is actually a more humanitarian and credible weapon than older, bigger versions. Arguing that this device would reduce risks for civilians near foreign military targets, James Miller, who developed the nuclear weapons modernization plan while undersecretary of defense, stated in a recent interview that \u201cminimizing civilian casualties if deterrence fails is both a more credible and a more ethical approach.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other specialists were far more critical. The Federation of Atomic Scientists pointed out that the high accuracy of the weapon and its lower settings for destructiveness might tempt military commanders to call for its use in a future conflict.<\/p>\n
General James E. Cartright, a former head of the U.S. Strategic Command and a retired vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, conceded that possessing a smaller nuclear device did make its employment \u201cmore thinkable.\u201d But he supported developing the weapon because of its presumed ability to enhance nuclear deterrence. Using a gun as a metaphor, he stated: \u201cIt makes the trigger easier to pull but makes the need to pull the trigger less likely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another weapon undergoing U.S. government \u201cmodernization\u201d is the cruise missile. Designed for launching by U.S. bombers, the weapon\u2014charged William Perry, a former secretary of defense\u2014raised the possibilities of a \u201climited nuclear war.\u201d Furthermore, because cruise missiles can be produced in nuclear and non-nuclear versions, an enemy under attack, uncertain which was being used, might choose to retaliate with nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n
Overall, the Obama administration\u2019s nuclear \u201cmodernization\u201d program\u2014including not only redesigned nuclear weapons, but new nuclear bombers, submarines, land-based missiles, weapons labs, and production plants\u2014is estimated to cost as much as $1 trillion<\/a> over the next thirty years. Andrew C. Weber, a former assistant secretary of defense and former director of the interagency body that oversees America\u2019s nuclear arsenal, has criticized it<\/a> as \u201cunaffordable and unneeded.\u201d After all, the U.S. government already has an estimated 7,200 nuclear weapons<\/a>.<\/p>\n The nuclear weapons modernization program is particularly startling when set against President Obama\u2019s April 2009 pledge<\/a> to build a nuclear weapons-free world. Although this public commitment played a large part in his receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize that year, in succeeding years the administration\u2019s action on this front declined precipitously. It did manage to secure a strategic arms reduction treaty<\/a> (New START) with Russia in 2010 and issue a pledge<\/a> that same year that the U.S. government would \u201cnot develop new nuclear warheads.\u201d But, despite promises to bring the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to the Senate for ratification<\/a> and to secure further nuclear arms agreements<\/a> with Russia, nuclear disarmament efforts ground to a halt. Instead, plans for \u201cnuclear modernization\u201d began. The president\u2019s 2016 State of the Union address<\/a> contained not a word about nuclear disarmament, much less a nuclear weapons-free world.<\/p>\n What happened?<\/p>\n Two formidable obstacles derailed the administration\u2019s nuclear disarmament policy. At home, powerful forces moved decisively to perpetuate the U.S. nuclear weapons program: military contractors, the weapons labs, top military officers, and, especially, the Republican Party. Republican support for disarmament treaties was crucial, for a two-thirds vote of the U.S. Senate was required to ratify them. Thus, when the Republicans abandoned the nuclear arms control and disarmament approach of past GOP presidents<\/a> and ferociously attacked the Obama administration for \u201cweakness\u201d or worse, the administration beat an ignominious retreat. To attract the backing of Republicans for the New START Treaty, it promised an upgraded U.S. nuclear weapons program<\/a>.<\/p>\n Russia\u2019s lack of interest in further nuclear disarmament agreements with the United States provided another key obstacle. With 93 percent<\/a> of the world\u2019s nuclear weapons in the arsenals of these two nations, a significant reduction in nuclear weapons hinged on Russia\u2019s support for it. But, angered by the sharp decline of its power in world affairs, including NATO\u2019s advance to its borders, the Russian government engaged in its own nuclear buildup<\/a> and spurned U.S. disarmament proposals.<\/p>\n Despite these roadblocks, the Obama administration could renew the nuclear disarmament process. Developing better relations with Russia, for example by scrapping NATO\u2019s provocative expansion plan, could smooth the path toward a Russian-American nuclear disarmament agreement. And this, in turn, would soften the objections of the lesser nuclear powers to reducing their own nuclear arsenals. If Republican opposition threatened ratification of a disarmament treaty, it could be bypassed through an informal U.S.-Russian agreement for parallel weapons reductions<\/a>. Moreover, even without a bilateral agreement, the U.S. government could simply scrap large portions of its nuclear arsenal, as well as plans for modernization. Does a country really need thousands of nuclear weapons to deter a nuclear attack? Britain possesses only 215<\/a>. And the vast majority of the world\u2019s nations don\u2019t possess any.<\/p>\n Given the terrible dangers and costs posed by nuclear weapons, isn\u2019t it time to get back on the disarmament track?<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 Shutterstock. All Rights Reserved<\/p><\/div>\n __________________________________________<\/p>\n Dr. Lawrence Wittner<\/em><\/a>, syndicated by <\/em>PeaceVoice<\/em><\/a>, is Professor of History emeritus at SUNY\/Albany. His latest book is a satirical novel about university corporatization and rebellion, <\/em>What\u2019s Going On at UAardvark?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A fight now underway over newly-designed U.S. nuclear weapons highlights how far the Obama administration has strayed from its commitment to build a nuclear-free world. The fight concerns a variety of nuclear weapons that the U.S. military is developing or, as the administration likes to say, \u201cmodernizing.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weapons-of-mass-destruction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69073\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Copyright](\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Atomic-Plague-mushroom-cloud-nuclear-weapon-bomb-military-wmd-device.jpg\")
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