Construction of New LANL Nuclear Facility Will Require a Permit
The draft, entitled "Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations," would serve to provide authoritative guidance for commanders to request presidential approval for using nuclear weapons. A previous version, written in 1995 by the Clinton Administration, made no mention of using nuclear weapons preemptively or specifically against WMD threats. The draft updates rules and procedures governing use of nuclear weapons to reflect the pre-emptive strategy announced by the Bush Administration in early 2001.
Deterrence is cited as an essential element of preventing aggression against the US. The draft states, "[d]eterrence of potential adversary WMD use requires the potential adversary leadership to believe the US has both the ability and will to preempt or retaliate promptly with responses that are credible and effective." Deterrence is strengthened, according to the draft, by the US maintaining a position in which it could use nuclear weapons. For this reason, the Pentagon asserts that the US must maintain its nuclear arsenal in a state of readiness to be deployed and initiate "a robust research, development, and industrial infrastructure to develop, build, and maintain offensive forces and defensive systems."
However, the draft discusses nuclear weapons use as a practical option as well as a deterrent. The draft states, "no customary or conventional international law prohibits nations from employing nuclear weapons in armed conflict." While the draft admits that use of nuclear weapons represents a significant escalation from conventional warfare, it asserts that "like any military action, the decision to use nuclear weapons is driven by the political objective sought."
The draft lists possible reasons why commanders may request presidential approval for the use of nuclear weapons, including "an adversary using or intending to use WMD against US, multinational or alliance forces or civilian populations,... attacks on adversary installations including WMD, deep, hardened bunkers containing chemical or biological weapons, ... to counter potentially overwhelming adversary conventional forces, ... for rapid and favorable war termination on US terms, to ensure success of US and multinational operations, ... to demonstrate US intent and capability to use nuclear weapons to deter adversary use of WMD" and to respond to an adversary's use of WMDs.
Activists are concerned at the Pentagon's endorsement of preemptive nuclear war. However, the nuclear use policies it proposes are not unique or new. They are explicitly endorsed in a number of administration and presidential policies as documented in the Western States Legal Foundation May 2005 report, entitled "War is Peace, Arms Racing is Disarmament: The Non-Proliferation Treaty and the U.S. Quest for Global Military Dominance." The report states, "[t]he implication that the selective use of nuclear weapons in ordinary warfare is lawful and legitimate signifies acceptance of the end of nuclear non-proliferation as a normative and legal enterprise."
|
