High-Level Roundtable Discussion Reveals U.S. Nuclear Deterrent’s Credibility, Reliability Imperilled
(Washington, D.C.): The Center for
Security Policy today released
href=”index.jsp?section=papers&code=97-P_117at”>a ten-page summary
of its High-Level Roundtable Discussion
on “The Future of U.S. Nuclear
Deterrence.” This half-day event,
which took place on 15 July 1997 at the
ANA Hotel in Washington, involved over 70
former and present government officials,
businessmen, diplomats and public policy
analysts including such preeminent
policy-practitioners as: Senator
Jon Kyl (R-AZ), a member of the
Senate Intelligence, Judiciary and Energy
and Natural Resources Committees; Hon.
Caspar W. Weinberger, Secretary
of Defense under the Reagan
Administration; Dr. Robert B.
Barker, former Assistant to the
Secretary of Defense for Atomic Energy;
and Hon. James R. Schlesinger,
former Director of the Atomic Energy
Commission, Director of Central
Intelligence, and Secretary of the
Departments of Defense and Energy.
The High-Level Roundtable occurred
against the backdrop of a recent National
Academy of Science’s report which
recommended the
“delegitimizing” and ultimate
“abolition” of all nuclear
weapons. This report is notable due to
the fact that it was co-authored by Rose
Gottemoeller who reportedly is
President Clinton’s choice to serve as
Assistant Secretary of Defense for
International Security Policy — the top
Pentagon position responsible for nuclear
weapons policy.
Highlights of the discussion detailed
in the summary released today include the
following:
- The need for nuclear
deterrence has not disappeared
with the collapse of the Soviet
Union. Russia continues
to build and deploy new nuclear
weapons while constructing deeply
buried command posts compatible
with a nuclear war-fighting
strategy. China has embarked on a
concerted nuclear build-up
involving at least two ballistic
missile systems capable of
striking the United States. And
several dangerous rogue nations,
including North Korea, Iran and
Iraq are aggressively pursuing
both weapons of mass destruction
and ballistic and cruise missile
technology suitable for
delivering them. - To be effective, a
deterrent must be credible.
Unfortunately, a number of
factors are combining to call
into question the credibility of
the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
These include incoherent
declaratory policies concerning
the use of American nuclear
weapons and ill-advised arms
control initiatives (notably, the
Comprehensive Test Ban). - The U.S. capability to
produce and maintain nuclear
weapons is in a dangerous state
of decline. American
weapons are aging rapidly, and
bans on underground testing will
make it difficult — if not
impossible — to assure the
future safety, reliability and
robustness of the U.S. deterrent.
In particular, real questions
exist concerning the
executability and efficacy of the
Administration’s expensive
Stockpile Stewardship and
Management Program (SSMP). Even
more problematic will be the
Department of Energy
laboratories’ duty to certify the
safety and reliability of
existing weapons until such time
as the SSMP’s diagnostic
facilities come on-line.
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