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Eugene

(62,626 posts)
Wed Jun 19, 2019, 07:23 PM Jun 2019

Nuclear weapons: experts alarmed by new Pentagon 'war-fighting' doctrine

Source: The Guardian

Nuclear weapons: experts alarmed by new Pentagon 'war-fighting' doctrine

US joint chiefs of staff posted then removed paper that suggests nuclear weapons could ‘create conditions for decisive results’

Julian Borger in Washington
Wed 19 Jun 2019 19.21 BST Last modified on Wed 19 Jun 2019 19.50 BST

The Pentagon believes using nuclear weapons could “create conditions for decisive results and the restoration of strategic stability”, according to a new nuclear doctrine adopted by the US joint chiefs of staff last week.

The document, entitled Nuclear Operations, was published on 11 June, and was the first such doctrine paper for 14 years. Arms control experts say it marks a shift in US military thinking towards the idea of fighting and winning a nuclear war – which they believe is a highly dangerous mindset.

“Using nuclear weapons could create conditions for decisive results and the restoration of strategic stability,” the joint chiefs’ document says. “Specifically, the use of a nuclear weapon will fundamentally change the scope of a battle and create conditions that affect how commanders will prevail in conflict.”

At the start of a chapter on nuclear planning and targeting, the document quotes a cold war theorist, Herman Kahn, as saying: “My guess is that nuclear weapons will be used sometime in the next hundred years, but that their use is much more likely to be small and limited than widespread and unconstrained.”

Kahn was a controversial figure. He argued that a nuclear war could be “winnable” and is reported to have provided part of the inspiration for Stanley Kubrick’s film Dr Strangelove.

-snip-


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/19/nuclear-weapons-pentagon-us-military-doctrine
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Nuclear weapons: experts alarmed by new Pentagon 'war-fighting' doctrine (Original Post) Eugene Jun 2019 OP
How convenient to leak this now soryang Jun 2019 #1

soryang

(3,304 posts)
1. How convenient to leak this now
Thu Jun 20, 2019, 12:23 AM
Jun 2019

Oh well, like the old army proverb, "shit happens," right? Especially when one considers how inadequate US ground forces are in the middle east to address a problem like Iran, or in the far east to deal with a ground war in Asia, which the new SecDef nominee says he's focused on. Let's let everyone know we mean business.

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