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Posted on 10/18/2001 12:24:31 PM PDT by truthandlife

Emphasizing that his idea is just an option, Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) believes the United States should consider using tactical nuclear weapons against Osama bin Laden's terrorist network in Afghanistan if that network is linked to the recent anthrax incidents in the United States.

Buyer, a Persian Gulf war veteran and member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee thinks small, specialized nuclear weapons, not as powerful as the atom bombs that were dropped on Japan in World War Two, could be used on the caves where members of bin Laden's network have taken shelter.

However, Buyer emphasized that the use of the weapons would only be a proper response if bin Laden's people are linked to the anthrax cases in Florida, Washington, New York and elsewhere in the United States.

"Don't send special forces in there to sweep. We'd be very naive to believe that biotoxins and chemical agents were not in these caves. Put a tactical nuclear device in and close these caves for a thousand years," said Buyer in an interview with Indianapolis television station WRTV.

Buyer stressed that he doesn't advocate the use of full-power nuclear bombs, but acknowledged that much of the world wouldn't see the difference.

Buyer's press secretary, Laura Zuckerman, told CNSNews.com Thursday, "This is not an option that the congressman has called upon the White House or anybody of the military operations to take. He is just saying he would support it, if this an option that they would like to take.

"He's not advocating nuclear war. He's a gulf war veteran, he knows the horrors of war and he would never look to escalate something in this way. If they [were] quelled somewhat by the threat of a nuclear attack, then the threat itself might be enough," said Zuckerman.

Last Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes, National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice said the United States would remain on high alert for some time although there were no specific terrorist threats, she said, nor any evidence that terrorists had gotten their hands on nuclear weapons.

"There are reports of all kinds of things, some true and some not. But there's no reason for the American people at this point to fear a specific threat of that kind. We have no credible evidence of a specific threat of that kind," Rice said.

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