- WASHINGTON -- The U.S. military
is considering allowing regional combatant commanders to request presidential
approval for pre-emptive nuclear strikes against possible attacks with
weapons of mass destruction on the United States or its allies, according
to a draft nuclear operations paper.
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- The March 15 paper, drafted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
is titled "Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations," providing
"guidelines for the joint employment of forces in nuclear operations
... for the employment of U.S. nuclear forces, command and control relationships,
and weapons effect considerations."
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- "There are numerous nonstate organizations (terrorist,
criminal) and about 30 nations with WMD programs, including many regional
states," the paper says in recommending that commanders in the Pacific
and other theaters be given an option of pre-emptive strikes against "rogue"
states and terrorists and "request presidential approval for use of
nuclear weapons" under set conditions.
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- The paper identifies nuclear, biological and chemical
weapons as requiring pre-emptive strikes to prevent their use.
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- Allowing pre-emptive nuclear strikes against possible
biological and chemical attacks would effectively contradict a "negative
security assurance" policy declared 10 years ago by the Clinton administration
during an international conference to review the Nuclear Nonproliferation
Treaty.
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- Creating a treaty committing nuclear powers not to use
nuclear weapons against countries without nuclear weapons remains one of
the most contentious issues for the 35-year-old NPT regime.
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- A Pentagon official said the paper "is still a draft
which has to be finalized" but indicated that it is aimed at guiding
"cross-spectrum" combatant commanders how to jointly carry out
operations based on the Nuclear Posture Review report adopted three years
ago by the Bush administration.
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- Citing North Korea, Iran and some other countries as
threats, the report sets out contingencies for which U.S. nuclear strikes
must be prepared.
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- It calls for developing earth-penetrating nuclear bombs
to destroy hidden underground military facilities, including those for
storing WMD and ballistic missiles.
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- "The nature (of the paper) is to explain not details
but cross spectrum for how to conduct operations," the official said,
noting that it "means for all services -- army, navy, air force and
marine."
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- In 1991 after the end of the Cold War, the United States
removed its ground-based nuclear weapons in Asia and Europe as well as
strategic nuclear warheads on warships and submarines.
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- But the paper says the U.S. has the capability of reviving
sea-based nuclear arms.
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- http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/makeprfy.pl5?nn20050502a3.htm
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