The Pentagon's nuclear wish

asiatimes: Amid increasing tension between the United States and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program, and growing concern about overstretched US ground forces, the George W Bush administration is moving steadily toward adopting the preemptive use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states as an integral part of its global military strategy.

According to a March document by the Joint Chiefs of Staff that was recently posted to the Pentagon's website, Washington will not necessarily wait for potential adversaries to use what it calls "weapons of mass destruction" before resorting to a nuclear strike against them. The document, entitled "Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations", has yet to be approved by Pentagon chief Donald

Rumsfeld, according to an account published in Sunday's Washington Post. However, it is largely consistent with the administration's 2002 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), which was widely assailed by arms control advocates for lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons by the US.

"What we see as significant is that they are considering using nuclear weapons against non-nuclear powers in preemptive first strikes," Ivan Oelrich, of the Federation for American Scientists (FAS), said about the NPR and the new doctrine. Read more

db: Get ready for the clash of blind moles