ETERNAL VIGILANCE

America Will Use Nukes to Defend ‘Strategic’ Allies

A classified report leaked to the press reveals that the U.S. military is poised to use nuclear weapons in defense of countries threatened by hostile neighbors.
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by James P. Tucker
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The Bush administration has decreed that “the Pentagon should be prepared to use nuclear weapons during an Arab-Israeli conflict,” according to leaked classified papers.

“The Pentagon’s ambitious nuclear battle plans, based on the leaked classified U.S. Nuclear Policy Review (NPR), have stunned the world and threaten to unleash a renewed nuclear arms race and an era of global instability,” Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) charged Aug. 5.

A classified NPR report in January 2002 – more than a year before the invasion of Iraq – said the Pentagon should be prepared to use nuclear weapons during an Arab-Israeli conflict, an Iraqi attack on Israel or its neighbors, a north Korean attack on South Korea or a military confrontation between China and Taiwan, PSR reported at a Washington news conference.

The classified document underscores arguments that the invasion of Iraq was not only for oil but to protect Israel and its occupation of Arab lands.

According to the NPR report, “countries such as Iran, Syria and Libya could be involved in immediate, potential or unexpected contingencies requiring ‘nuclear strike capabilities,’” PSR charged.

“The NPR also suggests the need for developing a new generation of nuclear devices to be integrated into U.S. war-fighting strategy for much wider use than for deterrence,” the physicians reported. The physicians’ group denounced the new U.S. strategy of “pre-emptive strikes” – used to justify the invasion of Iraq – that was first introduced by Israel when invading Arab neighbors.

This article appeared in the August 18,2003 issue of American Free Press.