President Obama boldly proclaimed that the United States would never use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear state. In so doing, he defied a well-reasoned, multi-generational, bi-partisan policy of never stating when the US would or wouldn't use nuclear arms.
And why? What do we get out of limiting our options and defying every conventional war strategy? Indeed, his actions will have just the opposite effect of the stated intention to reduce the likelihood of nuclear war. Rather than diffusing nuclear tension, he creates a perception of weakness, thus in effect challenging both nuclear and non-nuclear powers to test our resolve.
Most shockingly, though, is that he apparently neglects the fact that we did use nuclear weapons on a nation that had none - Japan. What would he do if we were faced with a similar war where thousands of American lives would be lost without use of the bomb? Let's hope we don't have to find out.
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