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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Conventional Arms No Substitute for Nuclear: Strategic Command Official

Conventional Arms No Substitute for Nuclear: Strategic Command Official

A U.S. Minuteman 3 ICBM, shown lifting off in a test launch. Conventional weapons do not offer a substantial substitute for nuclear armaments, a U.S. Strategic Command official said recently (U.S. Air Force photo). By Elaine M. Grossman
Global Security Newswire
WASHINGTON -- A U.S. Strategic Command official said recently that conventional weapons cannot substitute in any “meaningful” way for nuclear weapons, a view that appears to diverge somewhat from an Obama administration focus on reducing the role of atomic arms in ensuring national security (see GSN, Feb. 16).
“You can’t replace nuclear weapons today with conventional capability,” Greg Weaver, the combatant command’s deputy director for plans and policy, said on Feb. 16 at a symposium just outside of Washington.  “They don’t have the same effects on targets, but as a result they don’t have the same effects on people’s decision calculus.”

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