President Obama's decision to reverse 65 years of U.S. nuclear weapons policy and drop most of the nation's deterrence capacity has alarmed critics who say they fear that the United States will now be more vulnerable to attack from would-be nuclear nations.
By changing the policy, the Obama administration hopes the United States can focus on stopping the spread of atomic weapons to terror groups such as Al Qaeda as well as halt North Korea's nuclear buildup and Iran's nuclear ambitions, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday in announcing the new Nuclear Posture Review.
But skeptics say the policy change will only embolden those groups and tie the U.S.' hands.
"I'm deeply concerned by some of the decisions made in the Nuclear Posture Review and the message this administration is sending to Iran, North Korea, and non-state actors who may seek to harm the United States or our allies," Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, said in a written statement. "By unilaterally taking a nuclear response off the table, we are decreasing our options without getting anything in return and diminishing our ability to defend our nation from attack."
"We believe that preventing nuclear terrorism and nuclear proliferation should begin by directly confronting the two leading proliferators and supporters of terrorism, Iran and North Korea," said Arizona Republican Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl in a joint statement.
"The Obama administration's policies, thus far, have failed to do that and this failure has sent exactly the wrong message to other would be proliferators and supporters of terrorism," they said. - FOX News Story
No comments:
Post a Comment