http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2009/05/12/obama-breaks-with-gates-cancels-nuke-program.aspx
"One particularly interesting angle here: Obama has overruled his secretary of defense, Robert Gates, who has been pushing for months to maintain the warhead program. Last October, Gates warned that
"[t]o be blunt, there is absolutely no way we can maintain a credible
deterrent and reduce the number of weapons in our stockpile without
resorting to testing our stockpile or pursuing a modernization
program."
But even though "modernization" has now been halted, Obama will almost certainly not resume nuclear testing. So one has to presume Gates is not a happy camper on this score.
"As the reliability of our nuclear weapons comes into question, our deterrent effect diminishes. Without a Missile Shield (Berman Post: Obama to Drop Missile Shield For Russian Help Stopping Iran?), which we really need (Berman Post: Why we Need a Missile Shield), this could lead to disastrous consequences.
This does seem to be in line with "a world without nukes" which Obama professed a desire for (Berman Post: Obama Calls For "World Without Nuclear Weapons"). Well, at least a United States without reliable nukes or some other form of protection (namely a missile shield). I have zero confidence the other nations will give up their nuclear weapons.
In fairness to Obama, he did ask for "$143 million for advanced certification activities to ensure the viability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile without explosive testing" (http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20090511_8613.php). Clearly however, Robert Gates thought the Reliable Replacement Warhead Program was a much better choice.
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