Barack Obama, nuclear terrorist

This is what Barack Obama said last week regarding his administration's recent Nuclear Policy Review (NPR):

The United States is declaring that we will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons states that are party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and in compliance with their nuclear nonproliferation obligations.  This enables us to sustain our nuclear deterrent for the narrower range of contingencies in which these weapons may still play a role, while providing an additional incentive for nations to meet their NPT obligations.

Obama is also on the record as stating that "I think we should keep all options on the table" with regard to Iran.  That's the standard language in which US nuclear threats are couched, of course, and US politicians are careful to stick to that formulation in order to allow apologists to argue that they didn't mean what they clearly meant.  But Obama's Secretary of Defense gave the game away in his remarks about the Nuclear Policy Review:

SEC. GATES: Well, I think that the -- I actually think that the NPR has a very strong message for both Iran and North Korea, because whether it's in declaratory policy or in other elements of the NPR, we essentially carve out states like Iran and North Korea that are not in compliance with NPT.

And basically, all options are on the table when it comes to countries in that category, along with non-state actors who might acquire nuclear weapons.

So if there is a message for Iran and North Korea here, it is that if you're going to play by the rules, if you're going to join the international community, then we will undertake certain obligations to you, and that's covered in the NPR. But if you're not going to play by the rules, if you're going to be a proliferator, then all options are on the table in terms of how we deal with you.

So let's put this together:

1. The Nuclear Posture Review (PDF) declares that "the United States will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons states that are party to the NPT and in compliance with their nuclear non-proliferation obligations."
2. Gates says this language is specifically intended to "carve out states like Iran and North Korea."  And for these states, as Gates stated repeatedly, ...
3. ..."all options are on the table."  So Gates is explicitly threatening that the United States may use nuclear weapons to "deal with" Iran and North Korea.
4. Finally, Obama reiterated both his and Gates' threat that "all options are on the table" when he said his administration's purpose is to "sustain our nuclear deterrent" for Iran and North Korea, furthermore stating that this threat is intended as an "incentive" to those nations.

To summarize: the Obama administration has just made an explicit nuclear threat against Iran and North Korea, for the political goal of coercing them into complying with the US interpretation of their NPT obligations.

This is the Department of Defense's official definition of terrorism:

terrorism

(DOD) The calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.

So the "threat of unlawful violence...intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political" is terrorism.  Or in other words, by the DoD's own definition, Barack Obama is a terrorist—and given that his threats involve the use of nuclear weapons, it follows straightforwardly that Obama is more specifically a nuclear terrorist.  And not only is he a nuclear terrorist; as the one person who has access to a massive nuclear arsenal, the stated willingness to use it outside of the realm of direct self-defense, and the power to follow through on that threat, Barack Obama is currently the only nuclear terrorist on the entire planet.

All of which provides the necessary background to understand this statement of Obama's at the opening of his Nuclear Security Summit:

In short, it is increasingly clear that the danger of nuclear terrorism is one of the greatest threats to global security -- to our collective security.

For once, I can say I agree with him 100%.

Comments

[No Comment]

Since April 2003 North Korea has had no obligations under the NPT since its withdrawal from the treaty became effective then. The US interpretation of the DPRK's obligations under the treaty to which its no longer a party is another matter, as is the USA's interpretation of its own obligations under the treaty, which has been interesting to say the least.

[No Comment]

.... which has been interesting, tortured even, to say the least.

[Expat]

"We have met the enemy and ...." Pogo

[Cloud]

So the "threat of unlawful violence...intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political" is terrorism. Or in other words, by the DoD's own definition, Barack Obama is a terrorist

That doesn't quite follow. The key word is "unlawful". The President and the Military and the Police are the Authorities, and the violence they do is by definition, ipso facto lawful. I mean, they have uniforms and shit. (It's exactly the same principle that makes Israeli killers good guys and Palestinian killers bad guys.)

(For anyone whose sarcasm detectors may be deficient: I wish to God the above were not how people I meet in real life really think)

[John Caruso]

I think we should admire the fact that the Obama administration didn't let a detail like North Korea's (attempted) withdrawal from the NPT stop them from threatening another country with nuclear annihilation.

And Cloud, US violence isn't just "lawful", it's sacred. What are you, a communist?

[mistah charley, ph.d.]

I've seen commentary elsewhere pointing out that Obomber's recent pledge "No First Use [except N.Korea and Iran]" was clearly understood as a threat pointed at the latter two countries.

In the last few days I was watching Al Jazeera's news coverage and they had a headline at the bottom of the screen (or whatever that's called) pointing out that only one country had ever used nuclear weapons in war - i.e. the U.S.

May the Creative Forces of the Universe have mercy on our souls, if any.

[Harpfool]

Late breaking news....The Big O is fully expecting to see his brand exported to Mars in his lifetime - mistah charley, it really IS the universe at stake. Once you've decimated all species on Terra including our own, I guess the next logical step is the solar system. There is no limit to their shamelessness.