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holocaust". Moreover, they presume that the "collateral damage" of a nuclear war will in any event be confined geographically to the Middle East and that Westerners will be spared... But since their in-house scientists have confirmed that tactical nuclear weapons are "safe for civilians", the labels on the bombs have been switched in much the same way as the label on a packet of cigarettes: "This nuclear bomb is safe for civilians". Iran and North Korea, are sufficiently irrational to risk a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the US or its allies, such as Israel and South Korea. "The supposition here is that deterrence—that is, threatening the other side with obliteration—no longer works. But even the nasty regimes in Tehran and Pyongyang must know that the US reserves the right to use its overwhelming nuclear force to decapitate the leadership and destroy their countries as modern functioning societies." Nukes: Just Another Tool in the Military Toolbox The new definition of a nuclear warhead has blurred the distinction between conventional and nuclear weapons: "It's a package [of nuclear and conventional weapons]. The implication of this obviously is that nuclear weapons are being brought down from a special category of being a last resort, or sort of the ultimate weapon, to being just another tool in the toolbox." (Japan Economic NewsWire, 30 December 2005) - ae i 4 implication of this obviously is that nuclear weapons are Use nuclear weapons to prevent the use of weapons of mass being brought down from a special category of being a last destruction? But of course, lest we forget that America's nuclear resort, or sort of the ultimate weapon, to being just another arsenal as well as that of France, Britain and Israel are not tool in the toolbox." categorised as "weapons of mass destruction" in comparison with (Japan Economic NewsWire, 30 Iran's deadly nonexistent nuclear weapons December 2005) program. This re-categorisation has been carried out. Bin Laden's Nuclear Program The "green light" for the use of tactical nuclear We areata Now comes the authoritative part of the weapons in the conventional war theatre has . Pentagon—NATO's pre-emptive doctrine: we been granted by the US Congress. "Let's use dangerous crossroads: need to use nukes against bin Laden because them—they are part of the military toolbox." military planners Islamic "fanatics" can actually fabricate We are at a dangerous crossroads: military . 4 nuclear weapons or buy them from the planners believe their own propaganda. The believe their own Russians on the black market. of nuclear weapons is “safe” for Use inthe propaganda. atack directed against Osama bin Laden's al battlefield. These weapons are no longer The military manuals Qaeda, which has the ability, according to rare ceeieaikaate Suu | _ State that this new | svroinion of actly rousing smal In this context, Senator Edward Kennedy generation of nuclear "Second 9/11" attack on America: has accused the Bush administration of ie " " "The second line of reasoning having developed a generation of "more weapons Is safe’ for [contained in the NATO-sponsored ‘usable nuclear weapons. use In the battlefield. report] is more difficult to refute. It argues that extreme fanatical Russia and China Targeted These weapons are terrorists, such as al-Qaeda, Who else constitutes a threat to "the no longer weapons cannot be deterred because (a) Western way of life"? Nukes are also slated to be used against Russia and China, former enemies of the Cold War era. This post-Cold War logic was first revealed when the Pentagon's "Nuclear Posture Review" (NPR) was leaked to the Los Angeles Times in January 2002. they do not represent a country and therefore cannot be targeted and (b) they welcome death by suicide. So, we have to shift the concept of nuclear deterrence to the country or regime supplying the terrorists with fissile material. of last resort. The NPR includes China and Russia "Nuclear weapons require alongside the rogue states as potential targets for a first-strike materials that can be made only with difficulty. Once these nuclear attack. According to William Arkin, the NPR: materials are obtained by terrorists, however, the barriers to "...offers a chilling glimpse into the world of nuclear-war fabricating a weapon are much lower. In that sense the planners: with a Strangelovian genius, they cover every nuclear threat today is greater than it was in the Cold War conceivable circumstance in which the president might wish and it seems the terrorists cannot be deterred." to use nuclear weapons planning in great detail." (Dibb, ibid.; emphasis added) (Los Angeles Times, 10 March 2002) Tha a + theant he ol An We are ata dangerous crossroads: military planners believe their own propaganda. The military manuals state that this new ‘Weapons is "safe" for use in the battlefield. no longer weapons of last resort. The alleged nuclear threat by al-Qaeda is taken very seriously. The Bush administration has responded with overall defence spending (budget plus war theatre) in excess of one trillion dollars. This massive amount of public money has been allocated to financing the "Global War on Terrorism" (GWOT). Confirmed by Pentagon documents, military hardware including aircraft carriers, fighter jets, cruise missiles and nuclear bunker-buster bombs is slated to be used as part of the GWOT. In military jargon, the US is involved in asymmetric warfare against non-State enemies. "Decapitate their leadership..." The use of nukes against "rogue states", including Iran and North Korea (which lost more than a quarter of its population in US bombings during the Korean War), is justified because these countries could act in an "irrational" way. It therefore makes sense to "take 'em out" before they do something irrational. The objective is: "decapitate their leadership and destroy their countries as functioning societies": "One line of reasoning is that so-called rogue states, such as 16 = NEXUS APRIL — MAY 2008 (Dibb, ibid.; emphasis added) generation of nuclear These weapons are www.nexusmagazine.com