From Nuclear Watch New Mexico, a fellow organization with SRS Watch in the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA):
U.S. Strategic Posture Commission Ratchets Up
Nuclear Arms Race
Today, America’s Strategic Posture, The Final Report was released by the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States. In its own words:
“The Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States was established by the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and concludes that America’s defense strategy and strategic posture must change in order to properly defend its vital interests and improve strategic stability with China and Russia. Decisions need to be made now in order for the nation to be prepared to address the threats from these two nuclear-armed adversaries arising during the 2027-2035 timeframe. Moreover, these threats are such that the United States and its Allies and partners must be ready to deter and defeat both adversaries simultaneously.”
The United States has already embarked upon a $2 trillion “modernization” program that is a complete makeover of its nuclear forces. This program will rebuild every warhead in the planned future stockpile while giving them new military capabilities. It will also build new-design nuclear weapons and new missiles, subs and bombers to deliver them, plus new nuclear weapons production plants expected to be operational until the 1980’s.
New-design nuclear weapons could actually harm national security, as they cannot be full scale tested because of the existing global testing moratorium, thereby perhaps lowering confidence in stockpile reliability. Or arguably worse yet, they could induce to U.S. to resume full scale testing, after which other countries would surely follow.
But the greatest danger is the ratcheting up of a second nuclear arms race. This new arms race is arguably even more dangerous than the first because of multiple nuclear actors, new cyber threats, hypersonic weapons and artificial intelligence. To help give this needed context, Robert McNamara, Defense Secretary during the Cuban Missile Crisis, said humanity survived the first arms race only by luck. Ronald Reagan declared that a nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought.
Nuclear weapons are immoral, as Pope Francis and Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester have been clear about. They are genocidal weapons that would kill noncombatants, women and children, the aged and the newborn, genetically harm future generations and starve billions with nuclear winter. In short, possession by any country of nuclear weapons is a threat to all.
full news release from Nuclear Watch New Mexico: https://nukewatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Commission-Ratchets-Up-Nuclear-Arms-Race.pdf