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Though US officials argued the new Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) does not revolve around Russia, concerns about Moscow's nuclear arsenal absolutely dominate the document.
"
This not a Russia-centric NPR," said Anita Friedt, acting Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, at a Pentagon media conference Friday.
Yet,
the document mentions Russia 127 times. In comparison, there are 62 references to North Korea, 47 to China, and 39 to Iran.
"
We do not want to regard Russia as an adversary," said Friedt, and the document also says as much.
Washington, however, blames the substantial decline of strategic dialogue on nuclear issues with Russia on Moscow.
Specifically, the NPR names Russian modernization of nuclear and other strategic weapons, adoption of strategies and capabilities that rely on nuclear escalation, and "
seizure of Crimea and nuclear threats against our allies."
Moscow's actions signal a "decided return to Great Power competition," the NPR assets [assesses].
Comment: Right in the title of the paper is the word 'posture' and it sounds like posturing is exactly what the US is doing in order to validate its upgrades and keep the threat narrative on track. In itself, the NPR is creating a faux aggression strategy by suggesting, inferring, speculating what Russia may do or not do, the bulk of which Moscow claims is unjustified.
RT has more:
The US readiness to use its nuclear arsenal against Russia pre-emptively is nothing but an "attempt to question [Moscow's] right for self-defense against an aggression in a situation that is critical for the very existence of the Russian state," the statement said.
The NPR de facto allows the US strategists "to treat almost any use of military force as a reason for carrying out a nuclear strike against those deemed aggressors," it said.
The US also plans to modernize its nuclear arsenal by developing new, low-power nuclear munitions. The possession of such weapons coupled with a doctrine stating the right to a pre-emptive strike drastically increases the risk of a nuclear war even in "low-intensity conflicts," the Russian ministry said.
Moscow also expressed its concern over the fact that the US maintains and upgrades its tactical nuclear weapons in Europe, deploying them "in the immediate vicinity of the Russian borders." It also criticized the practice of the NATO "joint nuclear missions" that allow non-nuclear weapon member states of the Alliance to take part in planning and training in the use of nuclear weapons. This constitutes a "major violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)," the statement said.
It also noted that the US does not even mention its own obligations under the NPT, but instead speaks about the need to "contain" Russia by using the joint nuclear arsenal of all NATO nuclear-armed states. The ministry [...] also accused Washington of "irresponsible actions" that have led to the "unbalancing of the [international] arms control mechanism."
The administration of US President Donald Trump released the new Nuclear Posture Review on Friday. The document contains an expansion of scenarios in which nuclear threats would be considered and lists non-nuclear attacks that could be regarded as a sufficient basis for a nuclear response.
Comment: It is interesting that Mudd said "You've been around for 13 months. We've been around since 1908", because one way to think of the Deep State is as the group of life-long career bureaucrats who have nothing but contempt for elected officials and who are normally very skillful at manipulating them.