Rumsfeld won't rule out nuclear bomb against Iraq

11.45am

WASHINGTON - Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today refused to rule out the US use of nuclear weapons in a possible war with Iraq, while a leading senator told him such a move would trigger "a near-total breakdown" in American relations with the rest of the world.

"Our policy historically has been generally that we will not foreclose the possible use of nuclear weapons if attacked," Rumsfeld said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

But he added: "We have every confidence that in the event force is to be used in Iraq that we can do what needs to be done using conventional capabilities."

The United States is assembling a large military force in the Gulf region for a possible war with Iraq. President George W Bush has said the United States will lead a coalition to disarm Iraq if the Iraqis fail to comply with UN resolutions requiring them to give up any weapons of mass destruction. Iraq denies possessing such arms.

Rumsfeld said the United States would not "rule out various options," but said "those weapons... have not been fired in anger since 1945."

Rumsfeld's comments came during pointed questioning by Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, who expressed alarm that the Bush administration may be lowering the threshold for possible use of nuclear weapons.

"As you well understand, the nuclear weapon is not just another weapon in an arsenal. And until now we've always kept them in a class of their own for good reason because of the enormous destructive power and our profound commitment to do all we can to see that they are never used again," Kennedy said.

Rumsfeld said, "Does the (Defence) Department have an obligation and have they in successive administrations of both political parties had procedures whereby we would conceivably use nuclear weapons? Yes."

Kennedy then asked whether the United States was "seriously considering using any nuclear weapons against Iraq?"

"The only person in the United States who has the power to use weapons of that nature is the president of the United States," Rumsfeld responded.

"It seems to me that if one looks at our record, we went through the Korean War, we went through the Vietnam War, we've gone through the war on terror and we've not used nuclear weapons. That ought to say something about the threshold with respect to nuclear weapons," he said.

Kennedy pressed Rumsfeld about a January 25 Los Angeles Times article citing a report by defence analyst William Arkin saying US military planners are examining potential nuclear targets in Iraq and mulling options, including so-called bunker-buster nuclear weapons against deeply buried military targets.

The Times said the planners were focusing on the use of tactical nuclear arms in retaliation for a strike by the Iraqis with chemical or biological weapons, or to pre-empt one.

"I'm concerned that the use of nuclear weapons in Iraq in the absence of an imminent, overwhelming threat to our national security would bring a near-total breakdown in our relations between the United States and the rest of the world, particularly with regard to the Arab world," Kennedy said.

A presidential directive issued last year states, "The United States will continue to make clear that it reserves the right to respond with overwhelming force -- including resort through all of our options -- to the use of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) against the United States, our forces aboard, and friends and allies."

The Washington Times reported on January 31 that the classified version of the document explicitly allows for a nuclear retaliation to a chemical or biological attack.

Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, noted the Bush administration's request for funds to study nuclear weapons that could be used against deeply buried targets.

"If the United States sends signals that we're considering new uses for nuclear weapons, isn't it more likely that other nations will also want to explore greater use or new uses for nuclear weapons?" Levin said while questioning Rumsfeld.

Rumsfeld said other countries were engaging in underground tunnelling to develop, manufacture and store weapons, adding that "not having the ability to penetrate and reach them creates a very serious obstacle to US national security."

The only use of nuclear weapons in wartime came in August 1945 when the United States used atomic bombs against two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, during World War 2.

- REUTERS

Herald feature: Iraq