Left to right, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Energy Secretary Steven Chu conduct a press conference to discuss the Nuclear Posture Review at the Pentagon, April 6, 2010. DoD photo by Cherie CullenThe Gaping Loophole in Obama's Nuclear Posture Review -- The Atlantic
President Obama's nuclear posture review (NPR), which defines U.S. policy on nuclear weapons, is less revolutionary than you might think. The NPR is sparking wide debate for narrowing the conditions under which the U.S. would use its substantial nuclear arsenal. Obama's NPR firmly commits, as the New York Times puts it, "not to use nuclear weapons against nonnuclear states that are in compliance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, even if they attacked the United States with biological or chemical weapons or launched a crippling cyberattack." This has drawn news reports touting a reduced role for U.S. nukes and cries that we're practically inviting attack.
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