The Obama Administration will not deliver the ongoing nuclear posture review to Congress until March, rather than February, the most recent target date. So reported The Cable, an online news service of Foreign Policy Magazine, on Tuesday, saying defense officials need additional time so they may appropriately address the “complex issues under consideration” in the NPR. Just yesterday we reported that the White House was facing some pushback from defense and other national security officials over the projected outcomes of the NPR, the document that will forge future US nuclear weapons policy. At issue are decisions like whether the US should adopt a no-first-use pledge for its nuclear weapons, how many strategic nuclear warheads to maintain, and if it makes sense to alter the existing triad of nuclear delivery systems (long-range bombers, submarine-launched missiles, and land-based missiles).
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
