Posted on 03/09/2002 1:07:48 AM PST by kattracks
The White House has ordered the Pentagon to prepare plans for using nuclear weapons against at least seven countries and to build smaller nuclear bombs for certain battlefield situations, according to a published report today.
Tops on the nuclear hit list are China, Russia, Iraq, North Korea, Iran, Libya and Syria, according to a classified Pentagon report obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
"This is dynamite," Joseph Cirincione, a nuclear arms expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, told the newspaper. "I can imagine what these countries are going to be saying at the UN."
The Times said the secret report, given to Congress on Jan. 8, says the nuclear weapons could be used against targets able to withstand nuclear attack; in retaliation for attack with nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, or "in the event of surprising military developments."
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 by North Korea on the south, and possibly in an attack by Iraq on Israel or another neighbor.
The call for a limited-range arsenal was seen as an important deterrent against enemies who doubt the U.S. would use larger weapons in certain situations because of the widespread death and destruction they would cause.
The U.S. has long had a detailed plan for nuclear attack on Russia, but the new Nuclear Posture Review apparently marks the first time an official list of potential targets has been compiled.
The report acknowledges Russia is no longer officially an "enemy," but cites concern about the huge Russian arsenal of about 6,000 deployed warheads and some 10,000 smaller "theater" weapons, The Times said.
Pentagon spokesman Richard McGraw declined comment because, he said, the report is classified.
Nuclear analysts predicted to the newspaper that the report would draw strong reaction, but some insisted the Pentagon must be ready — especially after Sept. 11 — for all contingencies.
One nuclear expert, John Isaacs, president of the Council for a Livable World, said, "This is very, very dangerous talk.... Dr. Strangelove is clearly still alive in the Pentagon."
U.S. policy generally has been to consider the use of nuclear weapons against nonnuclear states only if they are allied with nuclear powers.
Actually, it was treason.
BTW: Does treason count as fair use?
ROTFL! My two "faves": Washington Kids Count and Business Responds to AIDS.
This could be a whole new thread. :-)
I would probably have to appear on C-SPAN opposite Helen Thomas, though, and no tax break is great enough for that.
We've had many chances/instances of charging individuals with felonies for leaks.Ain't gonna happen now.It will send a message to the world that we have a corrupt/unraveling/weak Govt.Our leaders do not want that portrayal.They will shun them I think in other ways.
Where's the Declaration?
This is the Congress of the United States hers... a co-equal branch of government...
Unless, of course, you want to change the title from President Bush to King George.
Contingency planning is not the same thing as a policy reversal. Close, but not quite the same thing. Just in case we change our policy, we can implement the new policy in about twenty minutes. (Ballistic missile flight time.)
BTW, Eisenhower threatened to use nuclear weapons against China in order to end the Korean War. Truman used nuclear weapons against non-nuclear Japan. It isn't clear that any of these countries aren't aspirants to membership in the nuclear club. Becareful what you hope for.
You hit the nail on the head.
Since it had to have been known that this would leak, you have to assume it was intended as message. Methinks Libya and Syria just got sent a major message.
BTW: For all you freepers who missed it, the big news out of Pakistan recently was the huge intelligence leak they had in their nuclear weapons program. One of the nations mentioned as probably getting all of Pakistan's nuclear bomb making info was Libya. Libya is one of the countries listed as trying to obtain nuclear materials. And last I heard, Khadafy was still the same madman he was when RR trimmed his wings back.
What a change the US has taken in foreign policy is just over a year, for the better, I may add. Foreign policy is critical to survival of the US, which is obvious. Time to consider the possibility of a two president system, one for domestic and one for foreign policy.
It bothers me greatly that our foreign policy could become the tail of the liberal left domestic agenda dog.
Says it all.
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