- British Defence Chiefs are drawing up plans for a "first
strike" strategy using nuclear weapons.
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- For the first time Britain could use battlefield nuclear
weapons against enemy troops and terrorist targets.
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- Armies with chemical and biological weapons would be
hit with short range "tactical" nuclear missiles.
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- Small nuclear bombs would also be targeted on heavy bunkers
and deep cave complexes like the ones used by al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
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- US defence experts have been ordered to start the rapid
development of new weapons.
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- A senior Westminster source told the Daily Mirror the
Ministry of Defence was also planning for their use.
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- He said: "If you are dealing with forces with weapons
of mass destruction and the willingness to use them, then we also need
to look at new sorts of weapons technology.
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- "Destroying deep cave complexes can take huge amounts
of manpower and military force."
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- Donald Anderson, chairman of the Commons foreign affairs
committee, called for Ministers to come clean about the proposals.
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- He said: "The development of a new generation of
tactical nuclear weapons in response to the terrorist threat would have
implications for arms control policy."
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- There was an argument for updating the nuclear strike
policy from the Cold War era, when two sides faced each other with massive
arsenals.
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- But he said: "If it is to be revised it needs to
be done with full public debate, not by a few mandarins talking among themselves."
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- He was backed by a report from his committee.
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- The all-party group said: "The Government must state
clearly what is its policy on the first use of nuclear weapons."
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- Labour anti-war cam- paigner Alice Mahon said: "This
is madness. It will cross a threshold which is totally and completely unacceptable.
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- "It will give the green light to the rest of the
world to get in on the nuclear action and develop their own weapons."
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- She warned that the move will spark a massive rebellion
at the party conference in October.
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- Her Halifax party was planning to put in a motion warning
against adopting a new nuclear policy and she expected "dozens and
dozens" more to flow in to party HQ. Carol Naughton, chairwoman of
CND, said: "The adoption of a first strike strategy, potentially with
nuclear weapons, is a very disturbing development."
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- A Ministry of Defence spokesman said Defence Secretary
Geoff Hoon had spelled out the position in the Commons two weeks ago.
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- Mr Hoon said then: "There has been no change in
the essential rules we follow on the use of nuclear weapons.
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- "They would be used in only what are described as
extreme conditions of self-defence ... proportionately and consistently
with our obligations in international law."
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- Mr Hoon caused anger this year when he said Britain would
be ready to use its long range nuclear weapons against Iraq.
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- In March it was revealed that US President George Bush
had ordered a "nuclear posture review".
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- He wants battlefield nuclear weapons to be developed
within three years to attack deep underground facilities beyond the reach
of conventional weapons.
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- Low yield nuclear warheads could also be used against
buried stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons.
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- http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=11996286=full=50143
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