For the first time, the United States is explicitly committing not to use nuclear weapons against nonnuclear states that are in compliance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, even if they attacked the United States with biological or chemical weapons or launched a crippling cyberattack.
You'll notice that the nations that are being spoken about here are the ones that couldn't launch a nuclear strike in the first place. It's saying that if you're "non-nuclear" and don't nuke us -- we're not going to nuke you.
There's nothig there that says, "If you're a nuclear power and launch nukes against us, or have nukes and use them against us -- we're not nuking y'all back."
It was also said ...
White House officials said the new strategy would include the option of reconsidering the use of nuclear retaliation against a biological attack, if the development of such weapons reached a level that made the United States vulnerable to a devastating strike.
In other words, if another kind of attack (other than nuclear) were used against us with the effect of degrading our nuclear capability, then "all bets are off" about us not using nukes against them.
I don't see anything that limits our use of nukes against those who would nuke us in the first place.
The reason we’ve reserved the right to retaliate with nuclear weapons when attacked with chemical or biological is that we signed away those two classes of weapons many moons ago. The only weapons of mass destruction we have left are nuclear weapons. Mr. Obama must realize that most of the public and media are ignorant of those facts.
Obama’s concept of promising not to use nuclear weapons against countries who have complied with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, even if they attacked the United States with biological or chemical weapons or launched a crippling cyberattack. Now, in a liberal mindset, that is a concept of ‘fairness’.
In the real world, it is insanity.
SNIP
In one single step, Barack Obama has virtually unraveled the concept of mutual assured destruction. It was, and always will be, an imperfect barrier to nuclear war. But now, Mr. Obama has removed that imperfect device in exchange for…nothing. Or virtually nothing.
http://neoavatara.com/blog/?p=10668