WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- The United States continues to need a nuclear deterrent, albeit a much smaller one than in the Cold War era, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday.
Speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Gates cited President Bill Clinton, who had a "lead and hedge" strategy.
"We'll lead the way in reducing our arsenal, but we must always hedge against the dangerous and unpredictable world," Gates said. "That is still true today, and maybe even more so. Rising and resurgent powers, rogue nations pursuing nuclear weapons, proliferation, international terrorism, all demand that we preserve this hedge."
Gates said some countries, including Russia, are relying increasingly on nuclear weapons because they do not have the resources to maintain big conventional forces. He said that was one reason for the nuclear buildup approved by President Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s.
Nuclear weapons also serve as a deterrent against countries that might want to use chemical or biological weapons, the secretary added.
