Trump calls for increased US nuclear capabilities
US President-elect's tweet follows a similar vow from Putin; raises alarm bells
WASHINGTON: America must massively boost its nuclear capability until the "world comes to its senses", President-elect Donald Trump said yesterday, hours after a similar vow by Russia's Vladimir Putin.
Trump made the statement on Twitter, without providing details or context, a day after meeting a group of Pentagon top brass, and shortly after Putin called for Russia to reinforce its own nuclear capabilities.
"The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes," Trump tweeted.
The open talk of ramping up nuclear capabilities - reminiscent of Cold War pledges - marks a departure from the stance of President Barack Obama, who in 2009 called for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
In 2010, Obama and Russia's then-president Dmitry Medvedev signed the so-called New Start treaty that calls for a significant reduction in the nuclear arsenals of both countries.
Trump's remark came after Putin declared "we need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces", while boasting about the Russian army's performance in its Syria campaign.
Russia's focus should be on "missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defence systems", Putin added.
A top Trump adviser tried to soften the impact of the tweet, saying the incoming president was not trying to change long-standing US positions on a global security issue.
To make such a loaded statement without context or follow-up is irresponsible at best.” Laicie Heeley, a nuclear expert at the Stimson Center
"What he's saying is he wants us to be ready to defend ourselves and he's not making new policy," Kellyanne Conway said in an interview with MSNBC.
"All he is saying is that we have to keep ourselves safe and secure and, when others stop building their nuclear weapons, then we'll feel more secure in that regard," she explained.
On Wednesday, Trump met with a group of Pentagon brass, including Vice-Admiral James Syring, who heads the Missile Defence Agency.
Their conversations centred on cutting costs to various military programmes and it was not known if Trump's tweet was triggered by information the incoming president gleaned from the US officials, or by Putin's comments.
America has an estimated arsenal of about 7,000 nuclear warheads, second only to Russia, which has a few hundred more.
The Pentagon wants to replace or modernise its three-pronged nuclear attack force comprising intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarines and bombers, which experts estimate will cost $1 trillion over the next 30 years.
Ms Laicie Heeley, a nuclear expert at the Stimson Center, a nonpartisan anti-nuclear proliferation think-tank in Washington, told AFP it was "reckless" for Trump to tweet on the topic without offering details.
"To make such a loaded statement without context or follow-up is irresponsible at best," she said.
"We could be talking about a return to the Cold War here, when the threat of a nuclear catastrophe was very real. Russian rhetoric is already moving in that direction. It wouldn't take a lot to bring us back there." - WIRES
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