Carter’s nuclear remarks a provocation to Russia, China: Analyst

An announcement by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter that the US is not pursuing a “no-first-use” policy with regard to its nuclear weapons is a provocation to Russia and other countries, says a political analyst.

“It has been the policy of the United States for a long time to extend its nuclear umbrella to friends and allies, and thereby to contribute to the deterrence of conflict and the deterrence of war,” Carter said at a nuclear research facility in New Mexico on Tuesday.

Carter said that opting for the first nuclear strike at a possible future war "has been our policy for a long time, and is part of our plans going forward.”

The announcement “is one of the most remarkable and frightening declarations in the history of modern nations because essentially what I see it’s doing is positioning the United States Pentagon - the Department of Defense - in a military gun road within the United States that is headed up by psychopaths and uniforms that are really blood-drunk with war for the past 15 years, setting them up for a long-term military conflict with Russia, Iran and China,” said Scott Bennett, a former US Army psychological warfare officer.

“The military in the United States is now off the chain, it’s not obeying President Obama, it is not obeying the United States Congress, instead you have a small cabal within the Pentagon and specifically the US Central Command commanding the Middle East theater, positioning itself for a long-term war,” he told Press TV on Wednesday.

Barack Obama “should demonstrate authority as president by immediately terminating and firing Ashton Carter, secretary of defense, as well as commander of the US Central Command and the commander in theater because this is a provocation to Russia, Iran and China, this is a provocation saying we will use nuclear weapons,” he suggested.

Bennett also said that “it is particularly alarming given the positioning of the batteries of missile silos now in Romania and Poland that the United States is complementing those missile silos with the potential armaments.”

Carter’s comments came after Obama considered an overhaul of the country’s nuclear policy, including the implementation of a no-first-use one.

America and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization members do not currently stick to such a policy, while China, considered an adversary nuclear power by Washington, maintains that policy.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk