U.S. President Barack Obama is planning a deliberate push to inject his own principles into a congressionally mandated review of U.S. nuclear weapons policy, the Atlantic magazine reported Friday (see GSN, Oct. 1).
(Oct. 26) -
U.S. President Barack Obama, shown arriving at the White House last week, appears set to play a direct role in the preparation of a comprehensive review of U.S. nuclear strategy (Kristoffer Tripplaar/Getty Images).
To ensure that the completed Nuclear Posture Review adequately incorporates views from within the White House and the State Department, Obama plans to take part in several senior-level discussions on the assessment and to provide direct advice on its formulation, according to officials in his administration. The president has sought to curb nuclear proliferation while moving toward eventual worldwide nuclear disarmament (see GSN, Oct. 9).
Obama might want to rule out the use of U.S. nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states, the magazine reported.
His interest in directly shaping the nuclear review seemingly arose partly from his frustration with the Defense Department's large role in the decision to scrap a European missile defense initiative proposed by the Bush administration (see GSN, Sept. 17). Although the Obama administration eliminated funding in the current fiscal year for studying a next-generation nuclear warhead, the Pentagon has lobbied for the Nuclear Posture Review to recommend the development of new warhead designs (see GSN, Sept. 24; Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic, Oct. 23).