Russia Open to Pre-Emptive Nuclear Strikes
This image made from video released by UNSMIS, the UN observer mission in Syria and accessed Saturday, June 9, 2012, purports to show UN observers touring after overnight fighting in Damascus, Syria. In Damascus, residents spoke about a night of shooting and explosions in the worst violence Syria's capital has seen since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began 15 months ago.(AP Photo/UNSMIS via AP video) / Anonymous
A top Russian security official says Moscow reserves the right to conduct pre-emptive nuclear strikes to safeguard the country against aggression on both a large and a local scale, according to a newspaper interview published Wednesday.
Presidential Security Council chief Nikolai Patrushev also singled out the U.S. and NATO, saying Moscow's Cold War foes still pose potential threats to Russia despite what he called a global trend toward local conflicts.
The interview appeared in the daily Izvestia during a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, as U.S. and Russian negotiators try to hammer out a nuclear arms reduction treaty by December. It also came amid grumbling in Moscow over U.S. moves to modify plans for a missile shield near Russia's borders rather than ditch the idea outright.
Patrushev said a sweeping document on military policy including a passage on preventative nuclear force will be handed to President Dmitry Medvedev by the end of the year, according to Izvestia.
Officials are examining "a variety of possibilities for using nuclear force, depending on the situation and the intentions of the possible opponent," Patrushev was quoted as saying. "In situations critical to national security, options including a preventative nuclear strike on the aggressor are not excluded."
The proposed doctrine would allow for the use of nuclear weapons "to repel an aggression with the use of conventional weapons not only in a large-scale but also in a regional and even local war," Patrushev was quoted as saying. He said a government analysis of the threat of conflict in the world showed "a shift from large-scale conflicts to local wars and armed conflicts."
"However, earlier military dangers and threats for our country have not lost significance," he was quoted as saying. "Activity on receiving new members into NATO is not ceasing. The military activity of the bloc is being stepped up. U.S. strategic forces are conducting intensive training on using strategic nuclear weapons."
Russian military analysts said the hawkish former domestic intelligence chief's remarks were mostly muscle-flexing for show, because what he revealed about the proposed new doctrine suggests it differs little from the current one.
One independent analyst, Alexander Golts, said current policy already allows for a nuclear strike to repel an aggression of any sort. Another, Pavel Felgenhauer, said that effectively allows for a pre-emptive strike because the type of aggression that would warrant such a strike is not clearly defined.
Russia' NATO envoy, Dmitry Rogozin, argued the proposed doctrine does not contradict arms reduction efforts. "We are moving toward a reduction in nuclear arsenals," he told Ekho Moskvy radio.
Still, Patrushev's focus on local conflicts could rattle Georgia, the small neighbor that Russia routed in a five-day conventional war with Russia last year.
Analysts also said his description of the proposed policy shows Russia's growing reliance on nuclear arms as its conventional arsenal decays and unpopular military reforms stall. Observers say the war with Georgia exposed frailties in Russia's military, adding urgency to planned reforms.
In a symptomatic setback, a scheduled test launch of the new Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile - which has failed in seven of its 11 test launches so far - was postponed, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. The Bulava has been billed as the future of Russia's nuclear arsenal.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Presidential Security Council chief Nikolai Patrushev also singled out the U.S. and NATO, saying Moscow's Cold War foes still pose potential threats to Russia despite what he called a global trend toward local conflicts.
The interview appeared in the daily Izvestia during a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, as U.S. and Russian negotiators try to hammer out a nuclear arms reduction treaty by December. It also came amid grumbling in Moscow over U.S. moves to modify plans for a missile shield near Russia's borders rather than ditch the idea outright.
Patrushev said a sweeping document on military policy including a passage on preventative nuclear force will be handed to President Dmitry Medvedev by the end of the year, according to Izvestia.
Officials are examining "a variety of possibilities for using nuclear force, depending on the situation and the intentions of the possible opponent," Patrushev was quoted as saying. "In situations critical to national security, options including a preventative nuclear strike on the aggressor are not excluded."
The proposed doctrine would allow for the use of nuclear weapons "to repel an aggression with the use of conventional weapons not only in a large-scale but also in a regional and even local war," Patrushev was quoted as saying. He said a government analysis of the threat of conflict in the world showed "a shift from large-scale conflicts to local wars and armed conflicts."
"However, earlier military dangers and threats for our country have not lost significance," he was quoted as saying. "Activity on receiving new members into NATO is not ceasing. The military activity of the bloc is being stepped up. U.S. strategic forces are conducting intensive training on using strategic nuclear weapons."
Russian military analysts said the hawkish former domestic intelligence chief's remarks were mostly muscle-flexing for show, because what he revealed about the proposed new doctrine suggests it differs little from the current one.
One independent analyst, Alexander Golts, said current policy already allows for a nuclear strike to repel an aggression of any sort. Another, Pavel Felgenhauer, said that effectively allows for a pre-emptive strike because the type of aggression that would warrant such a strike is not clearly defined.
Russia' NATO envoy, Dmitry Rogozin, argued the proposed doctrine does not contradict arms reduction efforts. "We are moving toward a reduction in nuclear arsenals," he told Ekho Moskvy radio.
Still, Patrushev's focus on local conflicts could rattle Georgia, the small neighbor that Russia routed in a five-day conventional war with Russia last year.
Analysts also said his description of the proposed policy shows Russia's growing reliance on nuclear arms as its conventional arsenal decays and unpopular military reforms stall. Observers say the war with Georgia exposed frailties in Russia's military, adding urgency to planned reforms.
In a symptomatic setback, a scheduled test launch of the new Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile - which has failed in seven of its 11 test launches so far - was postponed, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. The Bulava has been billed as the future of Russia's nuclear arsenal.
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We need to get over the Cold War and TRY to help out the Russian reformers so this country can get back on it's feet and fulfill it's true destiny....
There is more than a bit of irony in the Russian's comments. It is a well documented, and observed theory that the very existence, and threat of nuclear arsenal use has shifted conflict from "large-scale conflicts" to "local wars".
In this sense the statements made represents Russian military weakness. Perhaps not having the capability to sustain localized non-nuclear conflicts (which has shown to be true in the past at least in Afghanistan), Russia feels the need to remind everyone that they still have the bomb, and may choose to use it should they need to. This represent the effective limits of offensive Russian military influence, but why the think covering for this weakness is so important at this point in time seems unclear.
If anything this indicates that Russia feels the limits of its military capabilities to a far greater extent than is commonly perceived outside of the country for the most part.
There is more than a bit of irony in the Russian's comments. It is a well documented, and observed theory that the very existence, and threat of nuclear arsenal use has shifted conflict from "large-scale conflicts" to "local wars".
In this sense the statements made represents Russian military weakness. Perhaps not having the capability to sustain localized non-nuclear conflicts (which has shown to be true in the past at least in Afghanistan), Russia feels the need to remind everyone that they still have the bomb, and may choose to use it should they need to. This represent the effective limits of offensive Russian military influence, but why the think covering for this weakness is so important at this point in time seems unclear.
If anything this indicates that Russia feels the limits of its military capabilities to a far greater extent than is commonly perceived outside of the country for the most part.
Wingnut..the "shield" didn't shield anything. It didn't work.
Left nut, the shield work....