I don't think any President would, or should, rule out a nuclear response to a REAL WMD attack on the US.
As for the article about a proposed nuclear attack on Iran - I think that should only happen if Iran was really the ones that did the attack on the US.
We have talked before about what to do if the culprit cannot be found. I am still in favor of a kind of group punishment in such a case - for example cruise missile attacks, or even a tactical nuke attack on Mecca/Medina.
If we are going to do this though - we should be warning the entire Muslim world NOW that if we suffer a major WMD attack in the US, across a RED LINE that we indicate - for example more than 10,000 US dead, 50,000 US dead - some number - we will AUTOMATICALLY employ a pre-planned strategy of retailation against their most valued things - their holy sites.
So - if they do not wish for this to happen, they must supress the worst amongst themselves ahead of time - by any means necessary.
I think a retaliatory attack by the US would not only be justified, but be required.
>>
Does anyone honestly believe that the Bush administration would stop short at using nukes on a civilian population?
They're gleefully developing tactical nukes capable of taking out 50,000 people at a shot.
MORE from the link posted:
The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney's office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing--that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack--but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections. |
