Breaking the Taboo on the Use of Nuclear Arms
January 20, 2016
New York Times, January 20, 2016
To the Editor:
“Smaller U.S. Bombs Are Adding Fuel to Nuclear Fear” (front page, Jan. 12) reports that the Pentagon has been testing a precision nuclear warhead that can be delivered by cruise missile. It points out how critical voices, not least a former secretary of defense, William J. Perry, have underscored the dangerous logic that lies behind this revitalization: More precise nuclear warheads of lower yield, or explosive force, will reduce the military’s reluctance to employ such weapons in battlefield settings.
A more usable arsenal will erode the taboo on nuclear use that has persisted for 70 years. Once a nuclear weapon is deployed, even one of comparatively low yield, the current firewall against any use of nuclear weapons will be breached.
Subsequently the issue of yield will prove to be a relative one. In the heat of the moment whatever seems needed to get the job done will appear reasonable. Nuclear weapons use will be normalized, and both military and political leaders will feel under compulsion to escalate to the use of strategic weapons.
These innovations are likely to erode the protections provided by deterrence among the superpowers, provoke proliferation among nonnuclear weapons states and increase the risk transfer to nonstate actors.
GREGORY M. REICHBERG
DREW CHRISTIANSEN
Oslo
This letter to the editor, written by Drew Christiansen, S.J. and Gregory M. Reichberg, was originally published by the New York Times.