The H-Bomb

Abstract

One of the ugly facts of life which we now have to face fairly and squarely since the failure of the high-level discussions at Geneva in July and October I955 is that nuclear disarmament is still a long way off, though a measure of conventional disarmament may be nearer. Specifically, our defence policy must, I suggest, aim at three main objectives: to prevent all wars, small, medium, and large, and above all to ensure that the H-bomb is never used; to strengthen our hand in negotiations and in blocking Communist power politics, particularly in Germany but also all round the Communist perimeter; to pave the way for nuclear disarmament, and meanwhile to bring about and exploit any conventional disarmament that is practicable. Our present defence policy, which Mr Dulles has labelled 'massive retaliation', seems to be becoming much too drastic and inflexible for these objectives. Increasingly we are getting into a position where, in effect, we shall be forced to threaten, and if necessary initiate, the destruction of civilization in the event of any measure of aggression too powerful for our small conventional forces to combat. For, except in the most restricted areas, our conventional forces are unable to withstand the vast Communist conventional forces without the tactical use of atomic weapons, and there seems at present to be no distinctionbetween the tactical use of atomic weapons and the unlimited strategic use of the H-bomb. The proposition which I want to put forward is, that we should, in fact, establish a clear distinction between the tactical and strategic use of nuclear weapons, so that we can use our atomic weapons tactically without provoking the strategic use of hydrogen weapons.2 I suggest that we work out and declare in peace, without waiting for Communist agreement, some such distinctions as these: we regard the tactical use of nuclear weapons as confined to atomic weapons only, and we exclude the use of even these against towns and cities; strategic use of nuclear weapons would refer to the use of hydrogen weapons and to the mass destruction of towns and cities, even by atomic weapons. We might also add that, to conform to the moral principle of limiting the use of force