Obama Undercuts Deterrence

Today we found out that the Obama is making substantial changes to America's nuclear strategy.

For the first time, the United States is explicitly committing not to use nuclear weapons against nonnuclear states that are in compliance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, even if they attacked the United States with biological or chemical weapons or launched a crippling cyberattack.

Now, the official pronouncement isn't out until tomorrow, so perhaps there is more to this. But this sure sounds like a policy where an unfriendly state need not worry about nuclear reprisal if it employs certain weapons of mass destruction against America - so long as it was previously in compliance with the Nonproliferation Treaty.

Sure, Obama reserves the right to reconsider this strategy if the hostile state has developed weapons to a level that makes the U.S. "vulnerable to a devastating attack." That's just fine and all, but what if we don't find out about the extent of an enemy's weapons development until it is too late? This was the whole point of the Bush Doctrine - we can't wait until it is too late. Yet this new strategy seems like an invitation to our enemies to strike while the iron is hot.

Yes, the Obama administration may be ready and willing to use nuclear weapons whenever necessary, even in direct violation of this strategy. But in the meantime, the message is otherwise. Will our enemies take it at face value?