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Re: Use of nuc. weapons in Iraq
In the list I forwarded you can find this one, fron CNN:
Bush officials downplay story on nuke plans
March 10, 2002 Posted: 8:13 PM EST (0113 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Bush administration and military officials said
Sunday the United States reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in
the event it or its allies are attacked, but said that option does
not represent a change in policy.
"Let me put it this way: This is, again, not a plan," Gen. Richard
Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on CNN's "Late
Edition with Wolf Blitzer."
"This preserves for the president all the options that a president
would want to have in case this country or our friends and allies
were attacked with weapons of mass destruction, be they nuclear,
biological, chemical or, for that matter, high explosives," Myers
said.
Administration officials spoke about the matter Sunday after the Los
Angeles Times and The New York Times reported details from a
classified Pentagon review, provided to Congress in January, in which
the Bush administration said nuclear weapons could be used against
Libya, Syria, China, Russia, Iran, Iraq and North Korea in certain
situations.
Although administration officials and the Pentagon confirmed
existence of the "nuclear posture review," neither the White House
nor the Pentagon commented on the list of countries reported by the
newspapers.
Myers described the review as a "policy document" outlining U.S.
deterrence strategy, which includes the option of using nuclear
weapons.
"We certainly hope to deter other actors in the world from taking
steps with weapons of mass destruction that could have devastating
effects on our population and the population of our friends and
allies," he said.
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said the review does not
reflect a change in U.S. policy regarding the use of nuclear weapons.
"This report spends as much time, or more time, talking about making
the use of nuclear weapons less likely by having better intelligence,
by having advanced conventional weapons as a possible response, by
having missile defense as a way to deal with the growing threat of
weapons of mass destruction," she said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
The review is simply "prudent military planning," Secretary of State
Colin Powell said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
"I think there's less than meets the eye and less than meets the
headline with respect to the story," Powell said.
"Right now, today, not a single nation on the face of the Earth is
being targeted by an American nuclear weapon on a day-to-day basis."
Congress mandates a review of nuclear posture every six years.
Nuclear targeting discussions have long been a part of U.S. military
strategy, but analysts told CNN that, if accurate, the list of
countries was first official one that has come to light.
The Pentagon said Saturday the review "does not provide operational
guidance" on possible nuclear targets. The review "is the latest in a
long series of reviews since the development of nuclear weapons," the
Pentagon said.
Rice and Powell also said the new review takes into account recent
changes on the world scene, including an improved U.S. relationship
with Russia and the possible development of weapons of mass
destruction by what Powell described as a "class of nations" that
includes Iran, Iraq, Syria and North Korea.
Powell also disputed another aspect of the newspapers' report -- that
the United States is planning to build smaller nuclear weapons for
use in certain battlefield situations.
The secretary said that as the U.S. military reduces the number of
its nuclear weapons, the Pentagon is being asked to evaluate whether
"we might want to modify or update or change some of the weapons in
our inventory to make them more effective."
But no "brand new" weapons are being developed and no nuclear testing
is planned, he said.
"I want to make sure we don't get the international community upset
by what is essentially sound conceptual planning on the part of the
administration," he said.
-------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle
Director, Technical
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100 Extension 2306
Fax:(714) 668-3149
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/
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