Opinions

Nuclear weapons are the U.S.s

instruments of peace
By Robert Spalding October 4, 2013

Robert Spalding is a military fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

TheU.S.rebalanceorpivottotheAsiaPacificmustbepeacefulandaffordable.
Unfortunately,ourcountryneglectstheoneaspectofnationaldefensethatcandeliver
thisoutcome:nuclearweapons.
AsIenteredactivedutyasabomberpilotattheendoftheColdWar,Iwasamongthose
whoquestionedthecontinuedrelevanceofnuclearweapons.TheColdWarwasoverand,
thankfully,wehadescapednucleararmageddon.Ibelieveditwastimetoputawaythe
bombandfocusonmorerelevantconventionalcapabilities.Lately,however,Ihave
becomekeenlyawareoftheneedforournuclearforce.
TheUnitedStateswontheColdWarbymaintainingacrediblenuclearforcetostandin
oppositiontotheSovietUnion.U.S.nuclearweaponsdefendedEuropeagainsta
numericallysuperiorconventionalforce.Missileequippedsubmarinesandthebombers
andintercontinentalballisticmissilesofStrategicAirCommandwerethenucleartriad
thatdeterredtheSovietsfromattacking.Theseforceswereattheforefrontofourdefense
strategyandreceivedpriorityinbothrhetoricand
funding.
TheU.S.nuclearforceexiststokeepathresholdonthelevelofviolence.Thisisespecially
importantwhendisagreementsbetweennuclearpowersmovebeyonddialogue.While
numeroussmallerwarsexistedinproxystatesduringtheColdWar,directconflict

betweennuclearpowersalwaysdeescalatedbacktodialogue.Itispossiblethatthe
internationalbodypoliticthataroseafterWorldWarIIisthereasonwehavenot
witnessedathirdworldwar.Yetitisalsopossiblethathasnotoccurredbecausethe
threatofnuclearholocaustistoomenacing.Morelikely,itisacombinationofthetwo.
Tobecredible,nuclearweaponsmustbeakeycomponentunderpinningrelevantU.S.
foreignpolicy.IterodesmoraleandencouragesperpetuallylowfundingwhentheNuclear
PostureReviewaddsaslongasnuclearweaponsexisttothephrasesafe,secureand
effective,asifitisaforegoneconclusionthattheseweaponswillbeeliminated.Russia,
China,India,Pakistan,Israel,France,BritainandNorthKoreaalltreatnuclearweapons
asakeycomponentintheirnationsstrategy,andtheyaremodernizingweaponsand/or
deliverysystems.
Nuclearweaponsareinstrumentsofpeace.Airmenandsailorsnoblyensurethatnuclear
conflictwillbedeterredbybeingreadytousethem.Americansmayfeelguiltyfor
possessingsuchterriblecapacitytodestroylife.Despitetheirdistastefulness,however,
nuclearweaponsprobablyhavesavedlives.AnewdaydawnedonAug.6,1945.Manywho
workedontheManhattanProjectbelievedthattheyhadcondemnedtheworld.They
couldnothaveknownthattheymighthaveliberatedit.SinceAug.9,1945,approximately
7millionto10millionpeoplehavediedfromconflict.Beforetheintroductionofnuclear
weapons,twoworldwarsaloneledtothedeathsof70millionto100milliona
differenceofadecimalpoint.
Nuclearweaponsareanaffordabledeterrent.Thecostofthetriadrepresentslessthan3
percentofthe$526billionDefenseDepartmentbudget.In2012,theU.S.PostalService
lostabout$16billion,orthreetimestheamountitcostU.S.taxpayersforintercontinental
ballisticmissilesandbombers,twothirdsofthetriad.Althoughthenuclearbudgetneeds
torisetooffsetthemorethan20yearsofneglectinmodernization,amodestincrease
wouldbarelyregisterintheoveralldefensebudget.

Aperceivedmarchtowardcompletenucleardisarmament,evidentinphraseslikeaslong
asnuclearweaponsexist,weakenstheverythingthatensuresapeacefulfuture.Theidea
thatsuchweaponsarehereonlyuntilwecanfigureouthowtogetridofthemgnawsat
themoraleofeveryairmanandsailortaskedwiththisawesomeresponsibility.As
conventionalforcesmodernize,nuclearweaponsfundingdwindles,andweaponssystems
age.Theironyisdistressing:Wearefundingweaponsthatkillonadailybasistothe
detrimentoftheweaponsthatexisttopreventwar.
Thesensiblepathtopeacestartswiththerealizationthatpeacecanbesecuredonly
throughstrength.Nuclearweaponsrepresentthatstrength.Wemustembraceitthrough
fundingandrhetoric.Thetroopstaskedwithensuringourpeacefulfuturemusthearthat
theyareimportant,andtheymustseeandfeelitaswell.Weneednewweaponsand
deliverysystems,but,mostimportant,weneedanewstrategythatrecognizesthe
importanceofnuclearweaponstoapeacefulfuture.
RichardClarkeandSteveAndreasen:Anewthreatdoesntjustifynewdeterrencepolicy
EricEdelmanandRobertJoseph:TheObamaadministrationsriskydisarmamentagenda
HenryKissingerandBrentScowcroft:Nuclearweaponsreductionmustbestrategic
DouglasFeithandothers:Obamasnuclearzerorhetoricisdangerous
ThePostsView:TheGOPiswrongtosayObamacutnuclearweaponsbudget
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