The Nuclear Triad Remains a National Necessity
3.11.19
“Late last year, Representative Adam Smith (D., Wash.), then the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee and now its chairman, said, ‘The rationale for the triad I don’t think exists anymore. The rationale for the numbers of nuclear weapons doesn’t exist anymore.’ … Chairman Smith is wrong. Such dangerous disregard for the effectiveness of the nuclear triad directly contradicts the consensus of our military and intelligence communities and the lessons we’ve learned throughout history.
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“As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I have discussed this issue with the commander of U.S. Strategic Command, General John E. Hyten, who on multiple occasions has reiterated that ‘the surest way to prevent war is to be prepared for it.’ Hyten’s concern rises in large part from the more diverse and dangerous group of global adversaries the United States now faces, which includes Russia. In that respect, the hypocrisy in Democrats’ desire to disarm the triad is glaring: The party proclaiming Russia as our democracy’s top threat is simultaneously advocating the abandonment of the weapons deterring the Kremlin from attacking our country.
“And that’s the bottom line: Chairman Smith’s desire to disarm our country ignores the fundamental, foundational truth that deterrents work. They have worked before and they are working now. Eliminating a deterrent does not eliminate the underlying threat; the world does not become a safer place when we remove what keeps us safe.
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“As Ronald Reagan once said, ‘We maintain the peace through our strength; weakness only invites aggression.’ We need the nuclear triad now more than ever. The military community relies on it, our history reminds us of the need for it, and basic logic demands it. Chairman Smith and his allies might insist otherwise, but we cannot afford to find out if they’re right.”
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