Antinuclear

Mr Rudd made a campaign against nuclear weapons a hallmark of his foreign policy while in the top job, saying Australia had to reclaim credentials for the ”ultimate objective of a nuclear weapons-free world”. This chimed with hopes of then incoming US President Barack Obama, who pledged to put nuclear disarmament back on the global agenda.

But reflecting the dilemma of pushing for disarmament but not fully trusting other countries to keep any such bargain, Australia urged its American ally to hang on to its nuclear weapons for ”deterrence”…..

The submission is one of a bundle of secret defence documents obtained by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons under freedom of information law. Defence officials acknowledged the human cost of a nuclear war would be ”staggering” but said without a time frame for eradicating atomic weapons – and with ”complex and prolonged” negotiations likely in the meantime – the nuclear option should remain.

A British report last month estimated the US would spend $US700 billion ($A680 billion) on the nuclear weapons industry over the next decade.

Mr Rudd had set up an international panel of experts in 2008, chaired by former foreign minister Gareth Evans, to help chart a path to nuclear abolition.

Aware of the sensitivities involved, the officials warned ”the issues included in this submission could attract controversy if publicly discussed or released” as part of the US review.

The submission said Australia would back any US plans to designate the ”sole purpose” of nuclear weapons was to respond to another country’s atomic arsenal – removing the nuclear threat in a conventional war.

The Obama administration subsequently fell short of that principle when announcing the review in 2010, stating only the US would not use nuclear weapons against a country in compliance with nuclear treaties.

In closed-door testimony to the US Congress in February 2009, Australia’s then ambassador in Washington, Dennis Richardson, said the US-Australia joint facilities at Nurrungar and Pine Gap gave vital support to US nuclear readiness. He said US allies needed confidence any atomic attack would be met with a ”response in-kind” to stop countries building their own nuclear arsenals. http://m.theage.com.au/national/antinuclear-rudd-urged-us-to-keep-arsenal-for-deterrence-20111113-1ndw2.html