In Omaha, Nebraska, Adm. Charles Richard handed the flag over to Gen. Anthony Cotton, in a change of command ceremony Dec. 9 at U.S. Strategic Command headquarters presided over by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. During his remarks Austin accused Russia and China of nuclear saber-rattling but was himself playing the card of threat inflation. “The United States is on the verge of a new phase—one where, for the first time, we face two major nuclear powers as strategic competitors,” he said. “The People’s Republic of China is expanding, and modernizing, and diversifying its nuclear forces. And Russia is also modernizing and expanding its nuclear arsenal.”
He said further, “And as the Kremlin continues its cruel and unprovoked war of choice against Ukraine, the whole world has seen Putin engage in deeply irresponsible nuclear saber-rattling…. So make no mistake. Nuclear powers have a profound responsibility to avoid provocative behavior, and to lower the risk of proliferation, and to prevent escalation and nuclear war.”
