Bush policy of increasing nuclear force poses serious threat to world peace

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Bush policy of increasing nuclear force poses serious threat to world peace
Akahata editorial (excerpts)

The U.S. Bush administration in its FY 2008 budget request includes the cost for developing new types of nuclear warheads in order to increase "nuclear deterrence" by replacing all existing U.S. nuclear warheads with the new ones.

With nuclear weapons as a pillar of its preemptive strike strategy, the Bush administration is pursuing a policy of waging further wars of intervention such as the Iraqi War. U.S. possession of nuclear weapons poses a great danger to world peace.

Former U.S. officials call for abolition

The Bush administration's Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program is nothing but a new policy to strengthen the U.S. nuclear arsenal. It will enable the U.S. not only to maintain nuclear weapons for a long period of time but to increase and upgrade its nuclear stockpiles in a relatively short period of time by using RRW development and production facilities.

Nuclear weapons are the centerpiece of the 2005 "Global strike" posture of having the capability to promptly attack anywhere in the world. The Bush administration in its 2006 National Security Strategy stated, "Safe, credible, and reliable nuclear forces continue to play a critical role."

A particularly threatening aspect of the Bush administration's nuclear policy is that it intends to attack non nuclear weapons-possessing countries.

The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff in its 2005 Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations Final Coordination set out eight possible reasons for the preemptive use of nuclear weapons, including "to counter potentially overwhelming adversary conventional forces," and "for rapid and favorable war termination on US terms."

The U.S. government really believes that by taking the posture to preemptively use nuclear weapons, it can make other countries obey its will.

The Bush administration's policy of threatening non nuclear weapons-possessing countries with nuclear weapons demonstrates the dangerous nature of the notion of "nuclear deterrence."

In the United States itself, criticism of this nuclear policy is increasing.

On January 4, four former U.S. senior officials, including former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former Secretary of Defense William Perry, jointly published an article entitled, "A World Free of Nuclear Weapons." Pointing out that "reliance on nuclear weapons ... is becoming increasingly hazardous," it called on the countries in possession of nuclear weapons to take on "intensive work ... to turn the goal of a world without nuclear weapons into a joint enterprise." It also proposed "eliminating short-range nuclear weapons designed to be forward-deployed" as an urgent first step to take.

The fact that these former U.S. officials who had pursued nuclear strategy based on "nuclear deterrence" in the past came up with such a proposal shows that the danger of the use of nuclear weapons today is too grave to be overlooked anymore.

Roles of Japan as the only A-bombed country

As the only Atomic-bombed nation in the world, it is the earnest desire of the Japanese people to achieve a total ban on nuclear weapons.

It is unacceptable that the government supports the U.S. policy by describing U.S. nuclear weapons as "an essential complement to Japan's defense capabilities in ensuring the defense of Japan and contributing to peace and security in the region."

Efforts to block the Bush administration nuclear policy and to strengthen the movement for the elimination of nuclear weapons are urgently called for.
- Akahata, March 4, 2007