A State Department advisory board report made public Tuesday shows that the Obama administration is studying cuts in U.S. strategic arsenals to “very low” levels and ultimately eliminating nuclear arms.

The advisory board, headed by former Defense Secretary William Perry, reflects themes promoted by liberal arms control and disarmament officials in the administration and calls for a new U.S. nuclear doctrine dubbed “mutual assured stability” based on better relations with Russia.

The current nuclear doctrine is “mutual assured destruction,” in which both the United States and Russia maintain balanced nuclear forces that threaten the destruction of cities and nuclear forces to deter a nuclear war.

According to the report, the board studied “an end state defined by the narrower issue of a world with drastically reduced (and ultimately eliminated) nuclear arsenals, and associated reductions in security challenges which could drive nations to the acquisition and/or use of nuclear weapons.”

Another concept examined by the board was working to create a future that is “a cooperative world of ‘increased transparency and trust’ without ‘adversarial challenges’ in which [nuclear deterrence] is no longer necessary.”

The report said that the cooperative world scenario “may be unrealistic to achieve in an acceptable timeframe” and focused instead on how to cut nuclear arsenals.

The report calls for conciliatory policies toward Russia and dialogue involving “cooperative security” efforts designed to reduce the risk of a nuclear conflict. It also calls for a review with Russia on missile defenses.

The report identifies “destabilizing” risks associated with deep cuts in nuclear weapons. They include the need to increase intelligence and bolster defenses against weapons of mass destruction, as well as the shortcomings of using conventional weapons as a replacement for nuclear deterrence.

The report also mentions one potentially destabilizing result of deploying a very small nuclear force as “nuclear forces, albeit progressively smaller in size, but not adequately sized and maintained, and with a force structure and posture not appropriately tailored for circumstances and uncertainty.” It also warns that there are risks that reducing nuclear arms will undermine U.S. nuclear deterrence provided to allies in Asia and Europe.

Near-term actions for moving toward mutually assured stability recommended in the report include holding talks with Russia on nuclear stability and missile defenses.

Russia’s government in recent months has issued threats to conduct preemptive attacks on U.S. missile defenses in Europe as a result of plans for building European defenses.

Moscow for several years has demanded legally binding restrictions on U.S. missile defenses, a position rejected so far by the Obama administration.

The president’s open-microphone promise to Russia’s leader of “more flexibility” after his presumed reelection has raised concerns among national security Republicans about future talks with Russia.

Russian strategic nuclear bombers also recently conducted air defense identification zone incursions near Alaska and California and a Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine was said by U.S. officials to have sailed undetected in the Gulf of Mexico.

The saber rattling appears to be part of what U.S. officials say is a growing military assertiveness by Russia.

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Editor's Note: To borrow from Forrest Gump...stupid is as stupid does. Quizzle me this Batman, if the Russian people don't trust Vladimir Putin and the governing contingent of former KGB operatives, how the hell can we??


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