To the Editor:

Re “Pentagon Plan Would Expand Nuclear Policy” (front page, Jan. 17):

As we expand the circumstances that could precipitate nuclear war, the importance of a prudent, experienced president and government officials who influence his decisions becomes more apparent.

We should heed the warning of Andrew C. Weber, an assistant defense secretary in the Obama administration, who is quoted as saying, “Almost everything about this radical new policy will blur the line between nuclear and conventional.” If adopted, he said, the new policy “will make nuclear war a lot more likely.”

In the past, miscalculation has brought us to the precipice of war, as with the Cuban missile crisis, or actual war, as with the events that led up to World War I.

The recent false alarms in Hawaii and Japan should cause greater concern that misjudgment or rash judgment could result in nuclear catastrophe.