DISINFO: US withdrew from the INF Treaty to forward a principle of nuclear first strike
SUMMARY
The new US nuclear strategy has dropped the principle of deterrence, which until now has prevented the outbreak of a nuclear war. Washington’s new nuclear strategy has instead embraced the principle of a “nuclear first strike” aimed at destroying any country that is viewed by Washington as an “enemy” merely on the basis of suspicions that it might attack the US or that it has the capability of doing so. The natural consequence of this new US “first strike” strategy – and of the vast US program to build-up and modernise its nuclear arsenal – is Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the INF Treaty, which makes a nuclear holocaust increasingly likely.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative that US and NATO policies are bringing the world closer to nuclear war. Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative that the US is entirely responsible for the demise of the INF treaty. The current US nuclear strategy is detailed in the Nuclear Posture Review [NPR] , issued by the Department of Defence in February 2018. Deterrence continues to be the central principle of US strategy. The NPR states that “the highest US nuclear policy and strategy priority is to deter potential adversaries from nuclear attack of any scale”, and that US nuclear forces play a critical role in “deterring nuclear and non-nuclear attack”. Furthermore, the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) does not state that the US may use nuclear weapons against a country just because Washington suspects that the latter might have the intention or the capability of attacking the US. The Review states that the use of nuclear weapons will only be considered under “extreme circumstances”. It defines “extreme circumstances,” to include “significant non-nuclear strategic attacks” against “U.S., allied or partner civilian population or infrastructure, and attacks on U.S. or allied nuclear forces, their command and control, or warning and attack assessment capabilities”. See the NPR. See also the Brookings' Policy brief on the latest NPR.