Vol. 73/No. 5      February 9, 2009

The U.S. government maintains some 5,700 active nuclear warheads, about 3,700 of which are ready for launch at a moment’s notice. The only time such destructive power was used was in August 1945 when U.S. warplanes dropped one nuclear bomb each on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing hundreds of thousands.

The commission, led by James Schlesinger, criticized what it called the lack of leadership attention within the Department of Defense to the management of its nuclear weapons program. Its report, submitted December 18, contained recommendations for reorganization within the military, including the creation of a special “assistant secretary of defense for deterrence” to supervise the various aspects of the program.

In June 2008 Defense Secretary Robert Gates assigned the commission to investigate the management of the nuclear program within the air force following two incidents. In 2007, a B-52 bomber flew across the country without anyone realizing it was armed with nuclear cruise missiles. In August 2006, instead of helicopter batteries, ICBM nose cones with nuclear triggers, were shipped to Taiwan.

The report and its implementation are designed to convince Washington’s enemies as well as some 30 allies under its “nuclear umbrella” that Washington remains ready and willing to employ nuclear weapons. If these 30 allies are not reassured, Schlesinger warned, “some five or six of those nations are quite capable of beginning to produce nuclear weapons on their own, and the consequence is to add to proliferation. The strength of the U.S. nuclear umbrella, the credibility of that umbrella, is a principal barrier to proliferation.”

According to the report, some 49 nations already have the technical know-how to produce nuclear weapons. That number is likely to grow with the expansion of nuclear power, the report said.

In a January 8 briefing on the report, Schlesinger specifically mentioned the need to reassure Tokyo and former Soviet republics now allied with Washington, who expressed concern that Washington may not be giving enough priority to its nuclear posture.

The Russian government, the report says, is exerting “strong pressures on its neighbors,” modernizing its nuclear forces, and revising its nuclear doctrine to include “first strike options.” Meanwhile, Beijing is “modernizing and increasing its nuclear forces, as well as transforming it conventional military capabilities.” Both countries have ICBMs that can reach the United States.

The report argued against some U.S. military leaders who have suggested that Washington should remove its nuclear bombs from Europe. These bombs, the report said, play a political role and “remain a pillar of NATO unity,” dissuading U.S. allies from developing their own nuclear arsenals.

Schlesinger was asked at the January 8 briefing what he thought the government of North Korea’s current perception of the “U.S. nuclear deterrent” was. “I think that probably in today’s situation, that they have developed confidence—perhaps misplaced confidence—that the United States, if it were to go after their nuclear capabilities, likely would do so with conventional forces,” Schlesinger replied.

On the other hand, Schlesinger said, the government of Iran would regard a U.S. nuclear strike “as a much more likely development. As you may recall, in the recent Democratic primaries, Mrs. Clinton observed that we can obliterate you. Mrs. Clinton will be the secretary of state. And I don’t think that remark will be forgotten in Tehran, even if it has been forgotten in this country.”

The report alluded to what the U.S. rulers see as a problem with a nuclear-armed and increasingly unstable Pakistan. “Since some governments or their agents have supported terrorists, there is a strong possibility in the near future of facing terrorists armed with WMD,” it said.

Washington is expanding and upgrading its antiballistic missile system to restore its ability to use nuclear weapons unchecked. The navy is upgrading its entire fleet of 18 warships outfitted with antiballistic missile technology and adding three more such warships in the Atlantic. The U.S. military has also been setting up ABM radar in the Czech Republic, and interceptor missile batteries in Poland, a move that has irritated Moscow.

The report was critical of the fact that there is no overall plan to refurbish and replace nuclear weapon delivery systems, including ICBMs, bombers, nuclear submarines, and cruise missiles, over the next couple of decades. The report also pointed out as a problem that the United States is the only “nuclear state” without the capacity to mass produce warheads. “The problem is that we just do not want to think about nuclear capabilities.”
 
 
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