US blows Moscow Treaty levels

2004-03-25 11:47

Washington - The United States will not reduce its nuclear arsenal to levels designated by an arms accord it signed two years ago with Russia because it must hedge against an uncertain future, a top administration official announced Wednesday.

The Moscow Treaty signed with great fanfare by Presidents George W Bush of the United States and Vladimir Putin of Russia in May 2002 calls on both sides to reduce their strategic nuclear warheads to between 1 700 and 2 200 by 2012.

But it refers to "operationally deployed" weapons, essentially offering both governments a loophole that allows to move an unlimited number of warheads into storage and keep them indefinitely under lock and key.

While US officials have often praised this option, the remarks by undersecretary of energy Linton Brooks before the Senate Subcommittee on Strategic Forces represented the first official indication that the Bush administration had actually decided to exercise it.

"The 2012 nuclear stockpile will be substantially reduced from current levels," Brooks told lawmakers. "But reduction will not lower the stockpile to 2 200 total warheads."

He said the retained warheads will be needed for routine maintenance of the arsenal and for replacing damaged bombs, "to meet commitments to allies," and to address threats that may arise in the future.

"In particular, sufficient warheads will be retained to augment the operationally deployed force in the event that world events require a more robust deterrent posture," Brooks argued.

- AFP