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Pentagon Nuclear Posture Review Won’t Rule Out U.S. First Strike

HeadlineOct 28, 2022

The Biden administration has released its Nuclear Posture Review for 2022, with anti-nuclear groups warning the document will do little to prevent the threat of a catastrophic war. The document proposes cutting some programs like a submarine-launched nuclear cruise missile system begun under former President Trump. However, the White House is pressing ahead with a so-called modernization plan aimed at upgrading the U.S. arsenal, currently estimated at about 5,400 nuclear warheads. Last year the Congressional Budget Office estimated those programs will cost more than $630 billion this decade alone. The Union of Concerned Scientists said in a statement, “President Biden could have used the Nuclear Posture Review to dramatically decrease the risk of nuclear war by declaring that the United States will never start a nuclear war and ending the president’s sole authority to launch a nuclear strike. These changes would immediately reduce the risk of a misunderstanding, miscalculation or flat-out mistake leading to a world-changing nuclear war.”

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