US wants bigger nuclear umbrella
Defense Secretary Robert Gates believes US should talk softly but carry a big nuke arsenal.
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US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has called for the modernization of the United States’ nuclear arsenal, despite concerns the move could spark a global arms race.
Gates told the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace that the US needs the nuclear arms leverage to tackle what he called “threats of adversaries.”
Gates noted that the Pentagon has plans to help the US Air Force maintain and upgrade the country’s nuclear weapons, the US Department of Defense quoted him as saying.
“As long as others have nuclear weapons, we must maintain some level of these weapons ourselves,” Gates said, noting that “this will deter potential adversaries while reassuring over two dozen allies and partners who rely on the U.S. strategic umbrella for their own security.”
Referring to the earlier US pledge to reduce its nuclear arsenal by 75%, he stated, “We’ll lead the way in reducing our arsenal, but we must always hedge against the dangerous and unpredictable world.”
Concerns are growing over nuclear proliferation in the post Cold-War era as the global economic meltdown increases the possibility of instability.
The US defense secretary repeated Washington’s hostile rhetoric toward Iran and North Korea, accusing the countries of seeking atomic weapons. “There is no way to ignore efforts by states such as North Korea and Iran to develop and deploy nuclear weapons, or Russian and Chinese strategic modernization programs,” he said, adding, “As long as other nations have or seek nuclear weapons – and can potentially threaten us, our allies and friends – then we must have a deterrent capacity that makes it clear that challenging the United States in the nuclear arena, or with weapons of mass destruction, could result in an overwhelming, catastrophic response.”
Gates reassured the US allies: “Our nuclear umbrella – our extended deterrent – underpins our alliances in Europe and the Pacific and enables our friends, especially those worried about Tehran and Pyongyang, to continue to rely on our nuclear deterrent rather than to develop their own.”
The US government is incessantly making accusations about Iran’s nuclear program, but Tehran maintains it is totally peaceful and is only meant to generate much-needed electricity within the framework of the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The United States posesses about 10,000 of the world’s 27,000 nuclear warheads.
