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NYT: Pentagon Proposes Widening Permissible Use of Nuclear Weapons

HeadlineJan 17, 2018

The New York Times reports that the Pentagon is proposing widening the permissible use of nuclear weapons to include responding to cyberattacks and other non-nuclear attacks to U.S. infrastructure. The Pentagon has already outlined this expanded nuclear strategy in a draft document sent to President Trump for approval. It comes amid a series of moves by the Pentagon and President Trump that have escalated the threat of nuclear war. The Wall Street Journal reports the Pentagon is planning to develop two new sea-based nuclear weapons. The New York Times also reported the Pentagon is conducting a series of war games to prepare for a potential war with North Korea. This is Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warning Americans about the escalating threat of war with North Korea on Tuesday.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson: “With respect to whether Americans should be concerned about a war with North Korea, I think it’s—we all need to be very sober and clear-eyed about the current situation, as North Korea has continued to make significant advances in both its nuclear weapons, the lethality of those weapons, as demonstrated by their last thermonuclear test, as well as the continued progress they’ve made in their intercontinental ballistic missile systems. We have to recognize that that threat is growing. And if North Korea is not—does not choose the pathway of engagement, discussion, negotiation, then they, themselves, will trigger an option.”

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