U.S. nuke disclosure won't necessarily mean cuts
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The US Department of Defense has, for the first time, revealed the size of its nuclear stockpile, saying it has a total of 5113 nuclear warheads. The announcement was made as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was attending the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference (NPTRC) in New York.
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Let's see what you have got [By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn] |
Experts believe that the U.S. disclosed its nuclear stockpile to improve its bargaining powers with other nations, especially Russia.
The U.S. has kept the number of nuclear weapons it holds a top secret for over half a century. The disclosure was made without any outside pressure but simple analysis shows that it does not prove the U.S. is willing to cut its nuclear armaments.
Firstly, no one knows whether the number disclosed is accurate. Due to the general lack of transparency, some think the real number may be much higher than 5113. The figures should be checked by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) under the supervision of other permanent UNSC members.
Secondly, the U.S. says its older nuclear weapons will be dismantled. But it is not clear whether retired nuclear weapons could be reactivated, or what sort of radiation pollution they may cause. The dismantling process needs to be completely open to the rest of the world.
Thirdly, the U.S. has never promised not to be the first to use nuclear weapons. It is the only nation to have used the nuclear weapons, and it regularly uses depleted uranium weapons. Furthermore, it has never admitted that it was wrong to use nuclear weapons.
We do not know whether the U.S. was just attempting to take the moral high ground by revealing its nuclear stockpile. But one thing is certain. The number disclosed shows that US nuclear weapons are still a threat to world peace. That is what people should really be concerned about.
This post was first published in Chinese and translated by Zhang Ming'ai.
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