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U.S. Developing Nuclear Strategy Against Potential Enemy States
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U.S. Officials have long acknowledged the existence of detailed nuclear plans for an attack on Russia. |
WASHINGTON, March 9 (IslamOnline and News Agencies) - The White House has directed the U.S. military to prepare contingency plans to use nuclear weapons against China, Russia, Iraq, North Korea, Iran, Libya and Syria, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
A classified Pentagon report, presented to members of Congress on January 8 and obtained by the daily, detailed three scenarios, in which the weapons could be used: against targets able to withstand non-nuclear attack; in retaliation for attack with nuclear, biological or chemical weapons; or "in the event of surprising military developments."
U.S. Officials have long acknowledged the existence of detailed nuclear plans for an attack on Russia. But this "Nuclear Posture Review" apparently marks the first time an official list of potential target countries has come to light, analysts said.
Experts told the Times to expect strong reactions from governments of the target countries.
"This is dynamite," said Joseph Cirincione, a nuclear arms expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
"I can imagine what these countries are going to be saying at the U.N.," the daily quoted him as saying, adding, "This clearly makes nuclear weapons a tool for fighting a war, rather than deterring them."
Arms control advocates expressed concern the report's focus on smaller nuclear weapons could signal the Bush administration's willingness to overlook a long-standing taboo against the use of nuclear weapons, except as a last resort.
They further warned such moves could dangerously destabilize the world by encouraging other countries to believe that they, too, should develop weapons.
"They're trying desperately to find new uses for nuclear weapons, when their uses should be limited to deterrence," said John Isaacs, president of the Council for a Livable World.
"This is very, very dangerous talk," the daily cited Isaacs as saying. "Dr. Strangelove is clearly still alive in the Pentagon."
Conservative analysts, however, deemed it a sensible approach.
"We need to have a credible deterrence against regimes involved in international terrorism and development of weapons of mass destruction," said Jack Spencer, a defense analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington.
The report said the Pentagon should be prepared to use nuclear weapons in an Arab-Israeli conflict, in a war between China and Taiwan, an attack from North Korea on South Korea, or one by Iraq on Israel or another neighbor.
A political analyst in Washington D.C., who asked to remain anonymous, told IslamOnline that U.S. claims of a “dangerous Iraq” are unfounded as all reports indicate that Iraq does not pose a viable threat and possesses no weapons of mass destruction.
The analyst also went on to say that U.S. military action and threats against Arab countries, specifically Iraq, are just another example of the U.S.’s biased approach and blind support for Israel and a way, by which to quell any international support for the Palestinians.
With additional reporting by Neveen A. Salem
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