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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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