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| August 31, 2000 |
| August 31, 2000 |
A New U.S. Nuclear Weapon?
Rear Admiral Eugene Carroll, Jr. USN (Ret.), Vice President, ecarroll@cdi.org
A number of sources are now generating arguments in favor of the United States developing a new low-yield nuclear weapon with earth penetrating capability. As always in nuclear matters, there is more going on in the Pentagon, Congress, White House, and U.S. nuclear laboratories than is revealed in this rather bland proposal for one new nuclear weapon design. An extract from a commentary which appeared in the Los Angeles Times on July 14 provides some context.
"The U.S. Senate is preparing to take a major step to abandon all pretense that U.S. nuclear forces exist only to deter war. An amendment to the pending Defense Authorization Act for 2001 would lead to the development of a new nuclear weapon designed expressly for fighting."
The new weapon is to be a low-yield device with earth penetration capability, intended to destroy deeply buried bunkers. Paul Robinson, Director of Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., which would build the device, is a strong advocate of it. Robinson apparently favors a new, low-yield device because U.S. leaders presumably would be more ready to employ smaller weapons than to use the larger city- and silo-busting high-yield weapons in our current arsenal. He considers large weapons "self-deterring."
Not only is the Senate's action a throw-back to those unlamented days of preparing to prevail in nuclear war, but it also is a flagrant repudiation of a solemn pledge the United States made in May at the Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference in New York. We joined with Britain, France, China and Russia in a commitment to accomplish the total elimination of nuclear arsenals leading to nuclear disarmament.
Regrettably, this action is merely one more blatant signal that the United States is determined to pursue nuclear dominance indefinitely through enhanced readiness to fight a nuclear war. Additional preparations include the decision to resume production of tritium and plutonium pits for thermonuclear weapons, continued subcritical explosive testing in Nevada, and rejection of Russian proposals to reduce nuclear numbers 75% below START II levels. The thinking behind all of this was revealed by then Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre when he said in March: "Nuclear weapons are still the foundation of a superpower...and that will never change."
It is the conflict between the true believers in U.S. nuclear supremacy and America's obligation to work for nuclear disarmament that should stimulate resistance to producing a new, "more usable" nuclear weapon. The low yield strategy must be blocked or our nation will affirm its adherence to a nuclear warfighting doctrine and thereby weaken the entire global non-proliferation regime. A new weapon design would also strengthen the voices of those in our nuclear laboratories who continue to agitate for resumption of explosive nuclear testing.
In short, design and production of a new warfighting weapon would weaken every element of restraint embodied in current restrictions on U.S. nuclear programs. At the same time, coupled with U.S. failure to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and plans to deploy a National Missile Defense system, it would send a clear signal to the world that America is actively preparing for nuclear war. This signal might well ignite a new nuclear arms race and end non-proliferation efforts globally. Far from increasing national security, a new weapon would imperil the safety of all Americans.
Another Missed Opportunity in Africa
Rachel Stohl, Senior Analyst, rstohl@cdi.org
President Clinton made a final trip to Africa this week. His brief visit took him to Nigeria, Tanzania and Egypt. While many lauded his trip as symbolic, the visit's results seem to point to another missed opportunity to make a contribution to sustainable peace in Africa.
Protesting "the corrupt and brutal regime" then in power Clinton did not visit Nigeria during his 1998 trip to Africa. However, this time, Clinton wanted to reinforce the importance of Nigeria to Africa's future. Indeed, he called Nigeria "a pivot point on which all Africa's future turns."
While in Nigeria, Clinton focused on U.S.-Nigeria relations and the important leadership role of Nigeria in West Africa. Because West Africa has been the scene of many wars and unstable regimes during the last decade, the Administration believes that supporting Nigeria is essential for restoring greater stability in West Africa. To that end, according to Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Susan Rice, Clinton and Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo "signed a joint declaration expressing general agreement on alleviating Nigeria's debt burden and talked at length about unrest in Liberia and Sierra Leone. They discussed ways to set up United Nations peacekeeping efforts in Sierra Leone while dealing with arms trafficking and diamond smuggling through Liberia."
In Nigeria, Clinton also addressed issues of oil production and the threat to Africa and the U.S. posed by AIDS. The President announced $20 million in new aid to Nigeria, bringing total U.S. aid to the country to $170 million, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, in the wake of the arrival of U.S. troops to train Nigerian and other West Africans as peacekeepers for work in Sierra Leone (for more information see "Exporting American Diplomacy," Weekly Defense Monitor, August 10, 2000), the value of U.S. aid for peacekeeping -- including equipment and $10 million to reform the Nigerian military -- rose to $42 million.
By the time the President arrived in Tanzania, the signing of the Burundi peace agreement Clinton had been invited to witness was in jeopardy. Clinton called upon all sides to complete the peace negotiations and support the peace accord brokered by Nelson Mandela: "No one can force peace. You must choose it." Clinton took the opportunity in Arusha to meet with Tanzanian President Benjamin W. Mkapa and sign an "open skies agreement" for the two countries' airlines.
During a last, very brief stop in Cairo, Clinton met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to discuss the Middle East peace process.
While this trip re-affirmed U.S. interest in maintaining the U.S.-African dialogue begun in 1998, the focus tended to ignore previous commitments the Clinton Administration has made in regard to peace-building in Africa. For example, the President would have been better advised to try to solidify earlier promises regarding the restriction of arms sales to the continent.
Over the past few years, the Clinton Administration has discussed limiting arms sales to African countries and working to stem the proliferation and misuse of small arms world wide. In a speech before the NAACP in July 1999, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright pledged to work with UN and African leaders to find ways to strengthen the enforcement of arms embargoes. Similarly, at the UN ministerial on Small Arms in September 1999, Albright pledged that "the U.S. will refrain from selling arms to regions of conflict not already covered by arms embargoes." In his visit to Africa, President Clinton did not repeat this assertion nor explain how this policy would be applied. In light of his visit to the stalled Burundi peace negotiations in Tanzania, it would have been appropriate and significant if Clinton had made some commitment to the restrictions on arms exports to Africa. Activists recommend amending the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to that end or developing an official State Department notice that would govern decisions made by the Office of Defense Trade Controls. Unfortunately, Clinton did not announce any formalization of these policies or concrete actions to ensure that stated policies remain in place beyond December.
More recently, the U.S. has pledged to support efforts to prevent the sale of "conflict"diamonds -- illicit diamonds that fund war efforts. But Clinton did not formalize any significant commitments on this issue either. In remarks to the UN Security Council in 1999, Secretary Albright stressed that the U.S. recognizes that it must do its part to end illicit transactions in diamonds by working through the UN and with other nations and industry to strengthen certification regimes worldwide. The U.S. also proposed, in a February 2000 factsheet, legislation requiring each diamond to be sold have a certificate of origin guaranteeing its legality as one way to prevent the illicit sale of diamonds. Yet again, concrete, enduring policies were not specified.
Secretary Albright is scheduled to visit Africa before the end of the year. The Small Arms Working Group is drafting a letter urging the codification of U.S. policies to ensure that the prevention of small arms proliferation remains a priority for the next administration. If this Administration acts now, the Secretary's African visit will be the fulfillment of promises designed to promote real and lasting changes in U.S. policy towards Africa.
For more information on the U.S. policy towards Africa, see "Africa at the End of the Century," Weekly Defense Monitor, December 16,1999; "Neglecting Africa," Weekly Defense Monitor, October 21, 1999; "Albright Speech and Report Link Small Arms in Africa," Weekly Defense Monitor, July 22, 1999; "U.S. Arms Policy in Africa: Madeleine Albright Speaks to the Security Council's Africa Ministerial," Weekly Defense Monitor, October 1, 1998; and "Albright Expands U.S. Small Arms Policy at United Nations," Weekly Defense Monitor, October 7, 1999.
Reserves Short on Recruits -- The Pentagon has announced that the military reserves are struggling to fill their ranks with new recruits. Over the last three years, Army, Navy, and Air Force Reserves have fallen short of their recruiting goals. The Marine Corps has met their goals. The Pentagon finds this increasingly more troubling as additional demands are placed on the Reserves for overseas missions.
South Koreans Injured in Landmine Explosion -- Seven South Korean soldiers were injured by landmines as they worked on drainage pipe along the southern boundary of the border with North Korea. Lighting struck a landmine, planted along the fence to prevent a North Korean attack, which caused a chain reaction setting off an additional four mines. Five soldiers were treated for minor injuries, while two sustained serious injuries.
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Coming Soon! CDI's Issue Brief "National Missile Defense: What Does It
All Mean?"
As the debate in the United States on the planned deployment of the national missile defense (NMD) system heats up, the Center for Defense Information (CDI) is releasing a timely Issue Brief, "National Missile Defense: What Does It All Mean?" on this important national security issue.
The Issue Brief is designed to offer unbiased, in-depth, and up-to-date information on all aspects of the NMD debate to citizens, educators and decision-makers nationwide. Missile defense has gained additional prominence as one of the most divisive and defining issues in this year's presidential campaign. The 56 page document scheduled for release in September 2000, will include the following:
In addition to the print version, CDI is preparing a web site with further information on the National Missile Defense program. Each section in the print version will be updated on the web, on an as-needed basis, to keep the document current.
Readers of the Issue Brief will further benefit from access to the latest CDI documentary on missile defense, "Star Wars: New Hope or Phantom Menace?" This thirty-minute film contains interviews and testimonies by the nation's foremost experts on missile defense. A transcript of the film is available on the Web. The Issue Brief will be available August 31, 2000.
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