Recent remarks by US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter that Washington is not pursuing a “no-first-use” policy with regard to its nuclear weapons have drawn criticisms. Reacting to the statement, Scott Bennett, a former US army psychological warfare officer, has told Press TV that the United States' insistence on its right to launch a preemptive nuclear strike is very “disturbing” and that it threatens the world.
“This is a representation of the American military and the Pentagon, the generals and the admirals, going completely out of control. What it shows also is that the Obama administration, President Obama is completely out of touch; John Kerry, the State Department Secretary is out of touch,” Bennett said.
Under the no-first-use doctrine, a nuclear power undertakes not to be the first one to use nuclear arms during a possible future war.
The analyst also stated that Ashton Carter, the Pentagon and the military bureaucrats at the US Central Command, who are completely "off the chain," are carving out potential wars in Syria and Iran.
Bennett further argued that President Obama needs to immediately fire Ashton Carter and General Joseph Dunford, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, because they are obviously posturing the military-industrial complex and the Pentagon for some action after the presidential election.
“We could be entering a time between October and January where something very serious could happen, triggered by the military in order to create a war situation for the next year,” he stated.
The analyst went on to say that American military leaders get very “blood-drunk” in war, warning that if they think they are not going to be prosecuted for taking first-strike capability, they will most likely do it.
He also mentioned the US military does not have a free pass to go anywhere it wants in the world and engage in strike capabilities, but that is what it is doing right now.
Bennett concluded by saying that this is a very dangerous situation because it leads Russia, Iran and China to assume an “instant defensive posture.”