Nuclear Strategy being rewritten

Pentagon Rethinks Tactical Nuclear Options

The Pentagon is rewriting its nuclear strategy to give the president more options short of all-out war. The review would raise the profile of smaller, shorter-range weapons for regional conflicts. Here is what we know.>br />
The facts--

• Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby is leading a nuclear strategy review aimed at building more credible options for a president facing a regional nuclear threat.
• The shift favors tactical weapons. It would place greater emphasis on shorter-range, lower-yield warheads rather than reaching first for heavy strategic arms.
• It is a strategy review, not a formal posture review, a narrower vehicle that can move faster and commit the department to less.

The scenario is a regional attack. The strategy is built for a case in which China or Russia strikes a U.S. ally with a small weapon, forcing Washington to choose between doing nothing and escalating to a full strategic exchange.

Colby would de-emphasize damage limitation, the long-standing goal of a massive strike to destroy an adversary’s forces, without eliminating it.

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