National security expert Peter Pry explains the importance of the U.S.'s nuclear triad and how it helps deter potential enemies. He tackled the topic with Dan Happel on the Sept. 28 edition of the latter's show, Connecting the Dots on Brighteon.TV.
In the show, Pry warns that the nuclear triad, a key component of the country's security, is under threat from the Biden administration and anti-nuclear activists who are part of it.
Pry defines the three legs of the nuclear triad. First, there are intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) such as the land-based Minuteman III missiles numbering more than 400. Second, there are the nuclear bombers – the B-29, B-36, B-52 and the B2 bombers – with the U.S. Air Force oversees. Third, there are the ballistic missile submarines (BMS) comprising of the 14 Trident-class underwater vessels.
According to Pry, the Greatest Generation – born from 1901 to 1927 – is responsible for the existence of the nuclear triad. Having lived through World War II and the early Cold War period, they have realized that even the best-laid plans can go wrong and that things fail in war. "That's why we have a triad, [so] that at least one of these things will be able to work," he tells Happel.
Watch the full Sept. 28 episode of Connecting the Dots below or on Brighteon.TV.
Pry says that the U.S. has invested substantial amounts on the nuclear triad for decades to "avoid a nuclear war" with other nations such as China and Russia. He comments: "A lot of people think that the [nuclear] triad and those advocating nuclear preparedness are eager to fight a nuclear war, that they are nuclear hawks. Not so. The people who are most concerned with building up our nuclear strength have shown greater seriousness than the anti-nuclear activists about trying to prevent nuclear war."
He then asks Happel to imagine two men seeking to prevent burglars from breaking into their homes. One man simply puts a sign in his front yard. The other man not only puts a sign on his front yard – but also gets burglar alarms and guard dogs, undergoes training to fight home intruders and supports a robust police force to arrest burglars.
"It's obvious that the second man is much more serious about preventing burglary than the first man," Pry says, comparing the first man's action to minimum nuclear deterrence. "Unfortunately, the people who don't take the deterrence of nuclear war as seriously as the Great Generation did … [are] in charge now," he continues. (Related: Pentagon warns: China will double the size of its nuclear arsenal in the next decade.)
Anti-nuclear personalities in the Biden administration threaten the nuclear triad
The national security expert warns that the Biden administration and the Democratic Party espouse an anti-nuclear stance, which threatens the nuclear triad and national security at large. Pry names Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) and Rep. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) as some of the politicians who want the U.S. to adopt a minimum deterrence posture.
In particular, he cites Smith's chairmanship of the House Armed Services Committee as having a key role to play in the fate of the nuclear triad. The committee is in charge of writing the defense budget and deciding how much will be spent on nuclear deterrence. "What Smith wants to do is hold hearings on this, and he's written letters to President [Joe] Biden about it," Pry notes.
Pry warns of the consequences if in case the Democrats succeed in dialing down the nuclear triad. "This would eliminate our land-based ICBMs … [and] the nuclear bombers, and it would cut the number of [BMS] we have … by less than half, as a matter of fact – going down from 14 to six," he says.
"Right now, we have a triad. A 'biad' would just be bombers and submarines, and a monad is just submarines. [The Democrats want to] go to this much-scaled back monad of ballistic missile submarines – and that might happen," Pry continues.
Furthermore, Pry also touches on the Biden administration's Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) set to be finished in January 2022. "These anti-nuclear activists both within the Biden administration and the [Democratic] Party that I've been telling you about have been urging … Biden to have the [NPR] support this concept of minimum deterrence and a missile submarine monad," he tells Happel.
According to the national security expert, NPRs do not happen that often – with only five or six reviews occurring throughout the history of the U.S.'s nuclear deterrence program. He adds that NPRs are usually written to justify "big crossroads" in the evolution of the U.S. nuclear triad.
Ultimately, Pry expresses his suspicions over the sudden shift away from nuclear preparedness. He notes how Biden and the Democratic Party have espoused an anti-nuclear stance. "It's very suspicious, all of this happening at the same time," he says. (Related: STRATCOM commander sounds the alarm bell, says nuclear war "very real possibility" with Russia or China.)
Connecting the Dots with Dan Happel airs every Tuesday, 5-6 p.m. Eastern time, on Brighteon.TV.
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