Is Obama putting U.S. allies in danger?
Potential presidential candidate John Bolton argues that U.S. allies are put in danger by President Obama's nuclear policies:
Within the administration, there are strong advocates for America pledging â??no first useâ? of nuclear weapons. Although the nuclear posture review â??onlyâ? expanded â??negative security assurancesâ? somewhat, there is little doubt that â??no first useâ? is alive and well in internal administration councils. These self-imposed constraints on the use of nuclear weapons reinforce the alliesâ?? concern that Mr. Obama has forgotten the central Cold War lesson about the U.S. nuclear deterrent. There was never any doubt that a Soviet attack through the Fulda Gap into Western Europe would have swept through NATO forces, possibly all the way to the English Channel. Thus, the threat of U.S. nuclear retaliation against such an attack - an unambiguous case of a U.S. first use of nuclear weapons - was precisely what was needed to keep Soviet forces on their side of the Iron Curtain.
How is this lesson applicable to today? What army is poised to sweep into Europe, overwhelming Western defenses and precipitating a nuclear first strike as a desperate gambit to keep the West free?
Bolton then proceeds to undermine his argument that America's allies are feeling "increasingly insecure" about America's nuclear posture:
Accordingly, Europeans should be very worried that they are increasingly on their own to face the re-emerging threat of Russian belligerence. Because the New START treaty does not limit tactical nuclear weapons, Europe, simply because of geographic proximity, is most vulnerable to Russiaâ??s advantage in that category. It is thus highly ironic that some NATO countries have recently called for removing the last U.S. tactical nuclear weapons from Europe, which will simply enhance Russiaâ??s existing lead. [emphasis mine]
In other words, Europe isn't all that afraid of the re-emerging threat of Russian belligerence. Granted, attitudes toward Russia vary significantly in Europe but most of Western Europe, the former core of NATO, is not gripped by the panic that apparently envelopes Mr. Bolton.
