Just let a major newspaper report on a Pentagon document, residing unheralded on the DOD Web site since March, and down it comes. Someone alerted the Washington Post to the existence of the Pentagon’s final draft on its joint nuclear operations doctrine, which includes a list of conditions under which a combatant commander may request Presidential approval to use a theater nuclear weapon. The doctrine simply supports the White House’s policy of pre-emptive strike against a state or group intending to use weapons of mass destruction. After the Post’s article Sunday, the unclassified doctrine became unavailable, although untold copies already are out and about. It is in draft form, so one would expect once it’s complete, to find it back in the list of available material.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
