President Obama, along with members of his administration, is taking every opportunity of late to clarify the threat of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of rogue nations. Perhaps with an eye towards Iran, the Obama administration has noted that the top threat that faces the country from a security perspective is the development or acquisition of nuclear weapons by such nations. In fact, the administration has gone so far as to say that threat from nuclear weapons is greater now than it was during the Cold War, when the Soviet Union and the U.S. possessed enough nuclear weaponry to ensure mutual destruction in the event of a war.
In re-drafting its own nuclear strategy, the U.S. will seek to further reduce nuclear arsenals, along with Russia, limit further the circumstances that would call for a nuclear strike and stop developing new nuclear warheads. At the same time, the administration is seeking to stamp out development in the country and regions where such weapons could do the most damage.
Said Obama in a recent speech, “For the first time, preventing nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism is now at the top of America’s nuclear agenda. The great threat to U.S. and global security is no longer a nuclear exchange between nations, but nuclear terrorism by violent extremists and nuclear proliferation to an increasing number of states.” While the approach has been generally well-received, there was some criticism of the noted limitations on American use of nuclear arms. Noted Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl in a joint statement, “The Obama administration must clarify that we will take no option off the table to deter attacks against the American people and our allies.”
