A year after his groundbreaking pledge to move toward a "world without nuclear weapons," President Obama on Tuesday unveiled a policy that constrains the weapons' role but appears more cautious than what many supporters had hoped, with the president opting for a middle course in many key areas.
Under the new policy, the administration will foreswear the use of the deadly weapons against nonnuclear countries, officials said, in contrast to previous administrations, which indicated they might use nuclear arms against nonnuclear states in retaliation for a biological or chemical attack.
But Obama included a major caveat: The countries must be in compliance with their nonproliferation obligations under international treaties. That loophole means Iran would remain on the potential target list.
"The massive nuclear arsenal we inherited from the Cold War era of bipolar military confrontation is poorly suited to address the challenges posed by suicidal terrorists and unfriendly regimes seeking nuclear weapons," says the document, which the Pentagon released Tuesday. "Therefore, it is essential that we better align our nuclear policies and posture to our most urgent priorities -- preventing nuclear terrorism and nuclear proliferation."
Source: excerpt of Washingtonpost.com article by Mary Beth Sheridan and Walter Pincus
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