Oct 20

Reaffirming the Nuclear Umbrella: Nuclear Policy on Autopilot

Hans Kristensen, North Korea, Nuclear Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, United States No Comments » Print This Post

In condemning the North Korean nuclear test and repeating its call for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, one of the Bush administration’s first acts ironically has been to reaffirm the importance of nuclear weapons in the region.

“The United States will meet the full range of our deterrent and security commitments,” President Bush told Japan and South Korea after last week’s test. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice strongly hinted that the commitments potentially include nuclear strikes against North Korea.

But is it helpful or counterproductive at this stage to threaten North Korea with nuclear weapons?
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written by hkristensen