I'll bet you five bucks that the "leak" was done on purpose.
There's little point in having a nuclear deterrent if the people you're trying to keep in line don't know how ready you are to use it.
This leak was good strategy.
I would agree it is good for those targeted to know that they are. That should be public information. I still maintain, however, that releasing classified information ought to involve hard time.
I must be missing something here. I fail to see the good strategy involved in announcing to the world that we have a Nuke Hit List. I can see where some, if not all of these countries would view being on The List as a threat to them.
These countries already KNOW we have nukes and *probably* know that we will use them if provoked.
None of these countries have overtly attacked us but some of the nuttier ones might consider attacking us now that they've been essentially threatened by us. What, are we asking for it?
Take China for example. First we give it MFN status, next we put it at the top of The List? Sounds a little counterproductive.