limit U.S. use of nuclear arms
But even as President Barack Obama
Carbon fiber hoodlimits the conditions under which the United States would resort to a nuclear strike, he is making clear that nuclear-defiant states like Iran and North Korea will remain potential targets.
"I'm going to preserve all the tools that are necessary in order to make sure that the American people are safe and secure," Obama told The New York Times in an interview that previewed his revamped nuclear strategy.
The policy shift, calling for reduced U.S. reliance on its nuclear deterrent, could build momentum before Obama signs a landmark arms control treaty with Russia in Prague on Thursday and hosts a nuclear security summit in Washington next week.
But it is also likely to draw fire from conservative critics who say his approach is naive and compromises U.S. national security.
The Nuclear Posture Review is required by Congress from every U.S. administration but Obama set expectations high after he vowed to end "Cold War thinking" and won the Nobel Peace Prize in part for his vision of a nuclear-free world.
Under the new strategy, the United States would commit for the first time not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states that are in compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, even if it is attacked with biological or chemical weapons, according to The New York Times and a U.S. official who confirmed the details.
Those threats, Obama said, could be deterred with "a series of graded options" -- a combination of old and newly designed conventional weapons.
Obama insisted "outliers like Iran and North Korea"
Carbon fiber hood that have violated or renounced the treaty would not be protected.
