N: U.S. military told to prepare nukes
Geschrieben von Bern am 07. Februar 2003 22:22:03:
Als Antwort auf: alert orange - zweithöchste Alarmstufe - US Forikommentar geschrieben von Bern am 07. Februar 2003 21:01:02:
[Von Johannes hierhin verschoben]
war aus dem Inhalt einer längeren Mitteilung entnommen,
die Gegenstand derzeitiger Forendiskussionen sind.Bernd
Geschrieben von Bern am 07. Februar 2003 21:18:10:Report: U.S. military told to prepare nukes
March 9, 2002 Posted: 9:32 AM EST (1432 GMT)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Citing a classified Pentagon
report, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday that
the Bush administration has told the Defense
Department to prepare contingency plans to use nuclear
weapons against at least seven countries.The military also was directed to build smaller
nuclear weapons for use in certain battlefield
situations, the newspaper reported.The countries named in the secret report -- provided
to Congress on January 8 -- were China, Russia, Iraq,
North Korea, Iran, Libya and Syria, the Times
reported.The three contingencies listed for possible use of the
weapons were against targets able to withstand
nonnuclear attack; in retaliation for attack with
nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, or "in the
event of surprising military developments," according
to the newspaper."The report says the Pentagon should be prepared to
use nuclear weapons in an Arab-Israeli conflict, in a
war between China and Taiwan, or in an attack from
North Korea on the south. They might also become
necessary in an attack by Iraq on Israel or another
neighbor," The Times said.While officials have long acknowledged that they had
detailed nuclear plans for an attack on Russia, the
"Nuclear Posture Review" apparently marks the first
time that an official list of potential target
countries has come to light, analysts told the Times."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.,"
he told the newspaper.Arms control advocates told the Times "the report's
directives on development of smaller nuclear weapons
could signal that the Bush administration is more
willing to overlook a long-standing taboo against the
use of nuclear weapons except as a last resort.However, conservative analysts said that the Pentagon
must prepare for all possibilities as other countries,
and some terrorist groups, are engaged in weapons
development programs. Their position was that smaller
weapons have a deterrent role because rogue nations or
terrorists might not believe that the United States
would use more destructive multikiloton weapons, the
Times reported.Jack Spencer, a defense analyst at the Heritage
Foundation in Washington, told the newspaper the
contents of the report did not surprise him and
represent "the right way to develop a nuclear posture
for a post-Cold War world."The Times reported that a copy of the report was
obtained by defense analyst and Times contributor
William Arkin.The Pentagon refused to comment.