Trump is about to put his mark on the US nuclear arsenal

[DonViejo]

Source: CNN




By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent

Updated 10:40 AM ET, Sun January 7, 2018

(CNN)The Pentagon is putting the finishing touches on the first comprehensive review of US nuclear forces in nearly eight years. It's shaping up as President Donald Trump's signature nuclear weapons initiative in the face of a growing North Korean nuclear threat.

The review, which may allow Trump to put his mark on the nuclear inventory for decades to come, could lead to more than $1 trillion in spending over nearly 30 years. There have been three such reviews since the end of the Cold War, the most recent in 2010 under President Barack Obama.

"This Nuclear Posture Review is unique in that it is the first one to occur after a notable negative evolution in the security environment," one defense official said. "Threats have become more stark and volatile since 2010, and a fresh look at nuclear posture is essential to countering these threats."

Trump ordered the review in a presidential memorandum last January 27, a week after he took office. The memo called for a Pentagon review "to ensure that the United States nuclear deterrent is modern, robust, flexible, resilient, ready, and appropriately tailored to deter 21st-century threats and reassure our allies."

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/07/politics/weapons-nuclear-posture-review-us-military-trump/index.html

[keithbvadu2]

1. And to give his pal Putin up-to-date manuals.

And to give his pal Putin up-to-date manuals.

[demopilot]

2. I hope everyone realizes his 'nuclear button' isn't literal

The media would be fine if we believed there is an actual button on the Oval Office desk
that would launch ICBMs to...................where?

[underpants]

3. Hold it. "for decades to come" but the last one was done 8 years ago

Huh?

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. The effects of one review aren't all wiped out the moment the next one happens

If Trump gets a load of new nukes built (as he's threatened to), they'll be around for decades, or if he makes changes to the delivery systems. It's a review, not starting from a blank slate.

[underpants]

8. Okay thanks.

Yeah let's make more nukes. Why the hell not?

[The Mouth]

9. Well, if we have got to have the damned things

let's hope somebody is making sure they are maintained. I mean nobody WANTS them, but I would expect something like that needs to be inspected and checked every so often.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

4. GWB changed the status of nukes from "weapon of last defense" to just part of the general arsenal

thereby giving the most powerful H-bomb the same status as a hand grenade.

I'm surprised they're talking about deterrence in this Posture Review, given the Orange One's repeated inquiry, "If we have them why can’t we use them?” link

[SergeStorms]

5. Is Trump worried....

that if North Korea used a Nuclear device somewhere in the world, that the U.S. wouldn't have the capacity to blow North Korea into star dust? Just what is he so worried about that he needs this up-to-the-minute inventory of our Nukes? Another obsession of Trump's, as if he needs one more.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. What happened to nuclear disarmament??

[Dave Starsky]

10. Oh, that old, tired philosophy?

The last Republican President to really push for that was that liberal pinko hippie freak Ronald Reagan.

[Calista241]

11. Its more like nuclear limitation because the damn things are expensive.

[demopilot]

12. It went to join

"I may disagree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it."