IP: Official US position on nuclear attack

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: "RV Head" <4whp () home com>
> To: "Farber () Cis Upenn Edu" <farber () cis upenn edu>
>
> http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011031/wl/attack_nuclear_usa_dc_1.html
>
> U.S. Sees Increased Potential for Nuclear Attack
>
> By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent
>
> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Sept. 11 attacks have increased concerns that
> extremists would use weapons of mass destruction -- including possibly
> nuclear weapons -- against the United States, Undersecretary of State John
> Bolton said on Wednesday.
>
> Answering questions at a breakfast with defense writers, Bolton predicted
> that if extremists possess weapons of mass destruction -- a term that
> encompasses nuclear, biological and chemical arms -- they will use them.
>
> ``I'm concerned about weapons of mass destruction everywhere and my concern
> about weapons of mass destruction everywhere has gone up since the (U.S.-led
> anti-terrorism) war began,'' he said.
>
> Bolton, the State Department's top official dealing with arms control and
> international security affairs, said he was worried ``there will be use of a
> weapon of mass destruction.''
>
> Sept. 11 proved that anybody willing to fly a jet airplane into the World
> Trade Center is ``not going to be deterred by anything,'' he said. ``Had
> these people had ballistic missile technology, there is not the slightest
> doubt in my mind that they would have used it.''
>
> ``If they could couple that with a weapon of mass destruction -- nuclear or
> whatever -- and dropped it on lower Manhattan, as tragic as the destruction
> of the World Trade Center was, the loss of lower Manhattan or any comparable
> place would obviously be a lot worse,'' he said.
>
> Referring to the U.S. struggle with a spreading incidence of infection with
> the potent germ warfare agent anthrax, Bolton said ``we're having use by
> somebody of a weapon of mass destruction now, so it's not a hypothetical
> concern.''
>
> ``If the terrorists who launched the attacks on September 11 had had weapons
> of mass destruction and they thought they could have used then, the horror
> of what they did demonstrated they'd be prepared to use them as well. So I
> think it is obviously a national priority,'' he said.
>
> NUCLEAR QUESTION MARK
>
> He refused to say if the United States knew whether Saudi dissident Osama
> bin Laden (news - web sites) and his al Qaeda network of Islamic
> extremists -- blamed by Washington for the Sept. 11 attacks that killed an
> estimated 5,000 people -- were in possession of nuclear weapons.
>
> But he said one consequence of the U.S. attacks was a heightened awareness
> of the interrelationship between nonproliferation and terrorists and that as
> a result, efforts to halt the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological
> arms will receive more attention in coming months.
>
> ``Essentially every state on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism is
> also an aspirant to obtain weapons of mass destruction or may already have
> them,'' he said.
>
> ``So dealing with global terrorism ... will inevitably get us into the
> business of dealing with weapons of mass destruction proliferation,'' a
> topic now under discussion with Russia and China, he added.
>
> Iran, Iraq and North Korea (news - web sites) have long been key states of
> U.S. concern in regard to both weapons of mass destruction and terrorism.
> Some administration officials have urged including Iraq as a target in the
> war on terrorism but so far they have not prevailed.
>
> Bolton sidestepped a direct answer on whether the United States believed
> Pakistan could lose control of its nuclear arsenal in any political
> instability that might result from its alliance with Washington in the
> anti-terrorism war.
>
> He noted a recent statement by Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes, who
> said he believed Pakistan does have adequate control over its nuclear
> weapons.
>
> ``I can't think of anyone who would be more concerned about that question
> than the defense minister of India,'' he said.
>
> India and Pakistan are bitter nuclear rivals.
>
> Bolton said Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf had made ''courageous
> decisions'' in supporting the anti-terrorism effort and the United States
> has taken steps, including financial assistance, to support his government.
>
> He added: ``The question of stability on the subcontinent was something we
> were concerned about before the attacks of September 11 and what's happened
> after that, including the military operations in Afghanistan (news - web
> sites), have not reduced those concerns.''


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