The US Navy has deployed a low yield nuclear warhead. This gives concrete form to the US' approach to the use of nuclear weapons, and marks a serious escalation in its global campaign to maintain dominance. #SocialismorExtinction fas.org/blogs/security…
Firstly, we must ground this in contemporary US nuclear policy. As was revealed last year, the US now considers nuclear arms not only viable, but a potential at every stage of military planning. This gives a broad contexr.
The thinking behind this is derived from Herman Kahn. It is the idea that nuclear arms can be used in a limited way and that this need not escalate to all out nuclear confrontation. The US now even believes that a limited strike may "restore strategic stability".
The low yield bomb is a material expression of this. The impact of such bombs is smaller and so, in contemporary framing, they are thought of as precise. This to say they are, explicitly, offensive weapons. thebulletin.org/2020/01/the-lo…
The idea that the US is now considering a first strike is more than implied by this combination of theory and deployment, it is promised. This is not fated, but as the US throws its weight around to maintain itself, it is clearly the road we're on.
