Reliable Security Information
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
What's Next for Nuclear Modernization?
Posted by James Jay Carafano on 07/05/2011 :: Permalink

A wild fire that threatens Los Alamos National Laboratory is not the only "hot" topic regarding nuclear weapons. A fight is brewing between the president and the Congress over nuclear modernization. When pushing for the New START nuclear agreement, "Obama promised to modernize U.S. nuclear stockpiles. Yet when Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, wrote into the Defense Authorization Act provisions to make good on that promise, the president threatened to veto the bill." Furthermore, the administration has shown strong interest in pushing the ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty which would close off another to modernizing the US stockpile. 

 

In "Nuclear Weapons Modernization Priorities After New START," Heritage Foundation (http://www.heritage.org) defense expert Baker Spring argues for revitalizing the "U.S. nuclear deterrent to the changing world and improve its overall quality, including in ways the Obama Administration has been unwilling to support." In particular he argues "[t]he U.S. Congress needs to focus on preserving the strategic triad which has been essential to U.S. deterrence for decades."

The opinions expressed in this article and the SitRep website are the author's own and do not reflect the view of GlobalSecurity.org.

 
Subscribe to SitRep:
GlobalSecurity.org SitRep RSS Feed GlobalSecurity.org SitRep ATOM Feed