Pentagon fundamentalists rushing towards "rapture"?


Wednesday, September 19, 2001 at 09:30 JST
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department has recommended to President George
W Bush the use of tactical nuclear weapons as a military option to retaliate for last
week's terrorist attacks in the United States, diplomatic sources said Tuesday.

It is unknown whether Bush has made any decision. But military analysts said the
president is unlikely to opt for the use of nuclear weapons because doing so would
generate rebuke from the international community and could even trigger revenge from
the enemy involving weapons of mass destruction.

But the Pentagon's suggestion shows the determination of U.S. officials to retaliate for
the first massive terrorist attacks on the U.S. mainland, the analysts said.

The recommendation appears intended to deter terrorists, they said.

On ABC television's THIS WEEK program Sunday, Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld refused to rule out the use of tactical nuclear weapons. He avoided clearly
answering a simple question on whether their use can be ruled out. To a similar
question, a Pentagon official also replied, "We will not discuss operational and
intelligence matters."

According to the diplomatic sources, the Pentagon recommended using tactical
nuclear weapons shortly after it became known that an unprecedented number of
civilian casualties resulted from the terrorist attacks.

On Sept 11, hijackers seized four commercial U.S. aircraft. Two of the planes
slammed into the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center, while a third hit the
Pentagon near Washington. The fourth plane crashed outside Pittsburgh. More than
5,000 people were left dead or missing in the attacks.

Tactical nuclear weapons have been developed to attack very specific targets. The
military analysts said Pentagon officials are apparently thinking of using weapons that
can reach and destroy terrorists hiding in an underground shelter, limiting damage to
non-targets.

In 1986, the U.S. conducted an air raid on Libya, attempting to target Col. Muammar
Qaddafi. In 1998, Washington fired a cruise missile into Afghanistan in an attempt to
kill Osama bin Laden, whom the U.S. sees as behind last week's terrorist attacks.

The analysts said that since these attempts failed, it may be assumed that U.S.
officials are mulling the use of tactical nuclear weapons, which can cause much
greater destruction.

Declassified official documents show that since the mid-1990s, the U.S. has indicated
that it does not rule out the use of nuclear weapons if a country attacks the U.S., its
allies, or its forces with chemical or biological weapons. (Kyodo News)

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