- Changes in US nuclear weapons strategy will send a clear
message to states such as Iran, Iraq and North Korea that large-scale attacks
against the US or its allies would be met with devastating consequences,
officials said on Sunday.
In a significant switch in nuclear planning, the US will focus more on
hostile nations that have or could develop weapons of mass destruction
than on traditional nuclear weapons states such as Russia and China.
Condoleezza Rice, national security adviser to President George W. Bush,
said on NBC on Sunday that the only way to deter adversaries from using
weapons of mass destruction "is to be clear that it would be met with
a devastating response".
The stance, contained in a report presented to Congress in January, was
leaked over the weekend as Dick Cheney, US vice-president, arrived in London
on Sunday on the first-leg of a tour of Europe and the Middle East to discuss
the war on terrorism and the US posture on Iraq.
The report, which also names Libya and Syria as countries at which US nuclear
deterrence should be aimed, risks alarming Arab and European allies. Akbar
Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran's influential former president, said on Sunday
the US was trying to intimidate other nations.
The Pentagon report, called the Nuclear Posture review, raises the possibility
of a pre-emptive nuclear strike against such states and calls for the development
of nuclear missiles that could penetrate underground bunkers thought to
harbour dangerous weapons programmes.
The US might use a nuclear strike to destroy stockpiles of chemical or
biological weapons or to respond to conventional attacks such as an Iraqi
invasion of Israel or a North Korean attack on South Korea, according to
the New York Times, which obtained a copy of the report.
The strategy switch comes as Taha Yassin Ramadan, Iraq's vice-president,
on Sunday said his country would not allow the return of United Nations
weapons inspectors. However, at a meeting with the UN last week further
talks on the issue were scheduled for next month.
US officials stressed on Sunday the nuclear report represented a "posture"
rather than a "policy". Colin Powell, US secretary of state,
said on CBS News on Sunday that the US had no plans to develop new nuclear
weapons.
Mr Powell said other countries should not be alarmed by what he called
"sound conceptual planning . . . We should not get all carried away
with some sense that the US is planning to use nuclear weapons in some
contingency that is coming up in the near future. It is not the case."
What is clear, however, is that the US is gradually shifting all elements
of its military planning, including its nuclear arsenal, to focus on new
threats.
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