Presidential Directive (P.D.) 59
| Author | Milton Leitenberg |
| Date | 01 December 1981 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002234338101800401 |
| Published date | 01 December 1981 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Presidential
Directive
(P.D.)
59:
United
States
Nuclear
Weapon
Targeting
Policy
MILTON
LEITENBERG*
Swedish
Institute
of
International
Affairs
Nuclear
weapons
have
been
available
to
the
United
States
since
1945,
and
to
the
USSR
since
1949.
Particularly
in
the
years
since
1960
the
academic
and
analytical
journal
literature
has
contained
literally
many
hundreds
of
papers
dealing
with
the
subjects
of
nuclear
’deterrence’,
’mutual
assured
destruction’,
etc.
For
the
most
part,
these
papers
have
demonstrated
a
pervasive
and
thorough
ignorance
of
the
actual
state
of
planning
regarding
the
potential
use
of
these
weapons.
If
anything,
that
segment
of
the
research
community
most
interested
in
arms
control
has
shown
itself
to
be
particularly
poorly
informed,
and
most
resistant
to
giving
up
its
misconceptions.
These
critics
sought
the
maintenance
of
a
fictional
status
quo.
Ironically
critics
on
the
’right’
who
have
consistently
sought
increased
strategic
nuclear
war-fighting
policies
have
falsely
portrayed
the
official
policies
in
exactly
the
same
way
so
as
to
press
for
changes.
The
following
paper
is
designed
to
provide
official
information
regarding
US
nuclear
weapon
targeting
in
the
hope
of
redressing
this
pervasive
misunderstanding.
The
paper
can
only
deal
with
the
nuclear
targeting
policy
of
the
United
States.
The
paper
is
intended
to
do
no
more
than
to
provide
this
information,
in
the
hope
of
setting
the
record
straight.
It
demonstrates
that
at
least
since
1960,
US
nuclear
weapon
targeting
has
always
been
primarily
counter-military
—
’counterforce’
—
and
not
directed
in
the
first
instance
against
the
cities
of
the
USSR.
These
military
targets
have
always
and
primarily
been
the
nuclear
weapon
systems
of
the
USSR,
including
hardened
missile
silos
as
these
were
developed
by
the
USSR.
On
August
6,
1980,
United
States
press
re-
ports
annunced
an
apparent
change
in
US
nuclear
weapon
policy
vis-A-vis
the
USSR:
’US
Stresses
Limited
Nuclear
War
in
Sharp
Shift
on
Military
Strategy.&dquo;
Over
a
period
of
many
years,
such
reports
are
nearly
uni-
formly
treated
as
novel
events
by
both
press
and
by
researchers.
In
this
latest
instance
there
were
forewamings
and
related
reports
throughout
the
Carter
administration:
on
May
17,
1977,
January
5,
1979,
February
10,
1979
and
July
13,
1979.2
For
example,
a
year
and
one
half
earlier
the
report
of
February
10,
1979,
in
the
New
York
Times
was
’Carter
Shifts
US
Strategy
for
Deterring
Nuclear
War’.
This
described
very
similar
if
not
as
explicit
program
changes.
In
addition,
the
annual
statements
of
the
US
Secretary
of
Defense,
Dr.
Harold
Brown,
carried
strong
indications
of
the
same
aspects
both
in
Jauary
1979
and
in
Januaiy
1980.
But
even
more
important,
the
interested
observer
-
as
well
as
the
journalist
-
should
recall
the
similar
series
of
official
announcements
and
concomitant
press
re-
ports
in
December
1973
to
March
1974
during
the
tenure
of
former
Secretary
of
Defense
Schlesinger
and
the
Nixon
adminis-
tration.3
3
The
essence
of
all
these
reported
changes,
both
those
in
1973-74
and
in
1977-80,
was
that
the
United
States
was
shifting
its
nuclear
targeting
policy
from
one
directed
primarily
against
USSR
cities
to
one
against
Soviet
military
targets,
in
particular,
its
strategic
missiles
forces.
Contrary
to
widespread
common
under-
standing,
this
is
not
true.
US
nuclear
target-
ing
policy
has
always
and
overwhelmingly
been
devoted
to
Soviet
military
targets,
and
at
all
times
including
Soviet
strategic
missile
forces.
The
confusion
is
due
to
several
reasons.
First,
it
was
purposeful
and
in-
*
The
author
would
like
to
thank
the
Berghof
Foundation
for
research
grant
support
during
the
period
that
this
paper
was
written.
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