In an extraordinary letter to the Pentagon, Senator Robert Kerrey has challenged the strict secrecy of the government's nuclear warfighting plan known as the Single Integrated Operational Plan, or SIOP.

The SIOP identifies the specific targets to be destroyed by U.S. nuclear weapons in a nuclear war. By defining U.S. "requirements" for nuclear weapons, the SIOP in turn determines the size and structure of U.S. nuclear forces. Yet this fundamental component of U.S. national security policy is altogether exempt from accountability.

"For some time I have been asking for details of the [nuclear weapons] targeting plan but I have been told on every occasion that I am not entitled to know," Senator Kerrey wrote to Defense Secretary Cohen, in a letter dated October 11 that has not previously been reported. "I believe strongly that no member of Congress should be denied this information. Further, I believe the decision to limit access to the targeting plan does not make the United States more secure; it makes us less secure."

Senator Kerrey described the various pretexts by which his own access to the SIOP had been blocked by Pentagon officials, and he asked Secretary Cohen "to change the policy so that all members of Congress can receive a briefing providing them with the details of our nuclear weapons targeting plan."

"The responsibility for setting our defense policy rests with the elected, civilian representatives of the American people. But how can we provide the policy guidance that is needed when we are not given the information we need to decide if our current course of action is the correct one."

The unstated alternative is that nuclear weapons are intrinsically incompatible with democratic procedures.

See Senator Kerrey's letter here: http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2000/kerrey2.html

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