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Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is backing the creation of a new generation of low-yield nuclear weaponsâ â€dubbed â Å“mini-nukes.â ? The weapons would be used to attack al Qaeda bases in mountainous regions of Afghanistan, where conventional penetration bombs have so far failed to destroy the organization's underground camps.
Details are contained in a top-secret Pentagon document, Future Strategic Strike Force. It has been produced by the Defense Science Board (DSB). It has a Pentagon brief to â Å“transform the nation's armed forces to meet the demands placed on them by a changing world order.â ? The weapons could be tested as early as next year.
Last September, in a barely reported decision, the Senate eased restrictions on nuclear testing at the army's test range in Nevada. No new test has taken place there since 1992. The DSB report was produced by a group of scientists employed at Los Alamos and by Pentagon strategists.
They have concluded that in the war against terrorism, it is â Å“essential to revamp our nuclear arsenal. We envisage a completely new arsenal of small-scale missiles whose explosive impact would be easier to control and which could be targeted against terror groups and small aggressive states.â ?
Though North Korea and Iran are not named, Pentagon sources say that the â Å“mini-nukes would be ideal for targeting them.â ? A copy of the report has already been sent to Israelâ â€and its defense chiefs have expressed â Å“a strong interestâ ? in ordering the mini-nukes. Rumsfeld has himself told senior Defense Department officials that the need for a â Å“bolder approachâ ? in dealing with America's enemies is â Å“now long overdue.â ?
A senior Pentagon analyst said that Rumsfeld told the officials that there is an â Å“urgent need to discard our old Cold War thinking about nuclear weapons only being weapons of mass destruction with widespread fallout. The fact is that America's nuclear capability is a hangover from those days when we had to match the Soviets. What we need now are nuclear weapons that fit into our new security needs. Mini-nuke fallout would be limited to the target area.â ?
During President Bush's visit to London, senior Department of Defense officials, who were traveling with the president, met with their counterparts in Britain's Ministry of Defense to discuss the role Britain can play in having mini-nukes replace the larger nuclear weapons stockpiled from the time of the Cold War. Among the topics on the London agenda were an enhanced mini-neutron bomb and a specifically designed â Å“bunker buster, capable of destroying terrorist cells deep underground.â ?
But already the prospect of mini-nukes has aroused fear and anger among others. During Rumsfeld's visit to Japan and South Korea, he received a cool reception for his plans to launch mini-nukes.
â Å“Such weapons would, in the case of North Korea, produce a massive retaliation from their own nuclear arsenal,â ? said Yoshio Takamara, a Tokyo-based defense analyst. â Å“It would not only be against South Korea and U.S. forces there, but also against Japan. The use of mini-nukes in this region would probably trigger World War III.â ?
The mayor of Hiroshima, Tadatoshi Akiba, told American Free Press: â Å“Any policy of the United States to add to the world's nuclear arsenal is to be deplored. Any attack will surely not stop at one mini-nuke. A dozen of them could cause as much damage as the original atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. We are still the only city that has suffered such unique devastation. And we are still living with the results.â ?
Mohammed el-Baradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said: â Å“Developing new weapons will only encourage other countries to violate the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.â ?
But all the signs are that Rumsfeld is prepared to have the mini-nukes in place as soon as possible.
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What do you guys think?
Details are contained in a top-secret Pentagon document, Future Strategic Strike Force. It has been produced by the Defense Science Board (DSB). It has a Pentagon brief to â Å“transform the nation's armed forces to meet the demands placed on them by a changing world order.â ? The weapons could be tested as early as next year.
Last September, in a barely reported decision, the Senate eased restrictions on nuclear testing at the army's test range in Nevada. No new test has taken place there since 1992. The DSB report was produced by a group of scientists employed at Los Alamos and by Pentagon strategists.
They have concluded that in the war against terrorism, it is â Å“essential to revamp our nuclear arsenal. We envisage a completely new arsenal of small-scale missiles whose explosive impact would be easier to control and which could be targeted against terror groups and small aggressive states.â ?
Though North Korea and Iran are not named, Pentagon sources say that the â Å“mini-nukes would be ideal for targeting them.â ? A copy of the report has already been sent to Israelâ â€and its defense chiefs have expressed â Å“a strong interestâ ? in ordering the mini-nukes. Rumsfeld has himself told senior Defense Department officials that the need for a â Å“bolder approachâ ? in dealing with America's enemies is â Å“now long overdue.â ?
A senior Pentagon analyst said that Rumsfeld told the officials that there is an â Å“urgent need to discard our old Cold War thinking about nuclear weapons only being weapons of mass destruction with widespread fallout. The fact is that America's nuclear capability is a hangover from those days when we had to match the Soviets. What we need now are nuclear weapons that fit into our new security needs. Mini-nuke fallout would be limited to the target area.â ?
During President Bush's visit to London, senior Department of Defense officials, who were traveling with the president, met with their counterparts in Britain's Ministry of Defense to discuss the role Britain can play in having mini-nukes replace the larger nuclear weapons stockpiled from the time of the Cold War. Among the topics on the London agenda were an enhanced mini-neutron bomb and a specifically designed â Å“bunker buster, capable of destroying terrorist cells deep underground.â ?
But already the prospect of mini-nukes has aroused fear and anger among others. During Rumsfeld's visit to Japan and South Korea, he received a cool reception for his plans to launch mini-nukes.
â Å“Such weapons would, in the case of North Korea, produce a massive retaliation from their own nuclear arsenal,â ? said Yoshio Takamara, a Tokyo-based defense analyst. â Å“It would not only be against South Korea and U.S. forces there, but also against Japan. The use of mini-nukes in this region would probably trigger World War III.â ?
The mayor of Hiroshima, Tadatoshi Akiba, told American Free Press: â Å“Any policy of the United States to add to the world's nuclear arsenal is to be deplored. Any attack will surely not stop at one mini-nuke. A dozen of them could cause as much damage as the original atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. We are still the only city that has suffered such unique devastation. And we are still living with the results.â ?
Mohammed el-Baradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said: â Å“Developing new weapons will only encourage other countries to violate the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.â ?
But all the signs are that Rumsfeld is prepared to have the mini-nukes in place as soon as possible.
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What do you guys think?
