A Nuclear Weapon Free World?
My Name
Mon, 04 Jan 2010 08:31:32 GMT
President Obama's plans to reduce US nuclear arms run
aground amid tense debate with officials in the Pentagon and
other agencies scowling at the president's pledge.
The loggerheads come nine months after Obama's speech in
Prague last April, in which he promised that the US would
take substantial steps to lead the way to "a nuclear-free
world."
The strong resistance against phasing out nuclear weapons
poses a serious threat to one of Obama's most important
foreign policy initiatives, that is, reducing the role of
such weapons in foreign policy.
The administration is engaged in a heated internal debate
over a top-secret policy blueprint known as the Nuclear
Posture Review, the Los Angeles Times reported.
While defense officials have pushed back against the
proposed cutback on the number of weapons and the narrowing
of their mission, the White House has voiced disagreement
with the early Pentagon-led drafts of the blueprint.
White House officials have ordered that the document must
reflect Obama's preference for sweeping "change," the daily
cited US officials and other informed sources who described
the sensitive and secret discussions on condition of
anonymity.
The Pentagon, on the other hand, insists on continued US
"deterrence" - an objective Obama has said he agrees with -
while other senior officials have pointed out concerns that
the president and his administration may be going too far.
The US claims to maintain an estimated 9,400 nuclear
weapons, about 1,000 fewer than in 2002.
But Obama, who has already been awarded the Nobel Peace
prize in part because of his pledge to reduce the nuclear
threat, is stuck in reducing the arsenal.
"This is the first test of Obama's nuclear commitments,"
said former US Ambassador Nancy E. Soderberg, who also held
senior foreign policy positions in former US President Bill
Clinton's administration. "They can't afford to fall short
at the outset."
MRS/SC/DT
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115300§ionid=3510203
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