The White House’s plans to slash the size of the US nuclear arsenal are reportedly facing resistance from officials in the Pentagon and other US agencies out of concern that they may be too ambitious. The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that the internal debate centers around the outcomes of the nuclear posture review, the top-secret blueprint on future US nuclear policy. According to the newspaper, the Administration is pressing the case for reducing the role of nuclear weapons and their numbers, including a new arms deal with Russia, to strengthen international nonproliferation regimes. Accordingly, some of the changes it is considering are raising alarm bells, such as potentially altering the current nuclear triad and changing US declaratory policy on the use of nuclear weapons from purposeful ambiguity to something else. (For more, read Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal op-ed piece (may require free registration).)
The Pentagon agency charged with building and operating U.S. spy satellites recently declassified some details about a Cold War-era surveillance program called Jumpseat—a revelation it says sheds light on the importance of satellite imaging technology and how it has advanced in the decades since.
