Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself

Former Defense Secretaries Harold Brown and James Schlesinger say the “increasing likelihood” that a terrorist group will obtain nuclear weapons necessitates giving US Presidents the option of “prompt, precise, non-nuclear strikes.” In a Washington Post op-ed, the two elder statesmen make a cogent case for the Pentagon plan to employ a new type of conventional warhead on two of the Trident missiles on US submarines. They refute charges by Congressional critics who fear such a move would lead to the de-nuclearization of US subs or to inadvertent launch by less stringent conventional protocols or to Russia mistaking a launch as an attack. Read it here.