US joint chiefs of staff posted then removed paper that suggests nuclear weapons could ‘create conditions for decisive results’The Pentagon believes using nuclear weapons could “create conditions for decisive results and the restoration of strategic stability”, according to a new nuclear doctrine adopted by the US joint chiefs of staff last week. “Using nuclear weapons could create conditions for decisive results and the restoration of strategic stability,” the joint chiefs’ document says. The Nuclear Operations document was taken down from the Pentagon online site after a week, and is now only available through a restricted access electronic library. The last nuclear operations doctrine, published during the George W Bush administration in 2005, also caused alarm. The Obama administration did not publish a nuclear operations doctrine but in its 2010 nuclear posture review it sought to downgrade the role of nuclear weapons in US military planning.

Source: The Guardian June 19, 2019 18:21 UTC