White House threatens nuclear retaliation to attacks on U.S.

The Bush administration Wednesday published the first national strategy on combating the threat of weapons of mass destruction, signaling to terrorist groups and hostile states in the strongest language yet that the United States would retaliate with nuclear weapons if attacked with nuclear, chemical, biological or radiological weapons.

The National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction, drafted by the National Security Council and White House Office of Homeland Security, lays out a three-pronged strategy for countering what is described as "one of the greatest security challenges facing the United States."

The strategy calls for the development of new military and civilian capabilities to defeat adversaries armed with weapons of mass destruction, the strengthening of nonproliferation treaties and arms control regimes, and preparations to reduce, "to the extent possible," the potentially catastrophic consequences of a successful attack against the United States or its allies.

The strong language threatening overwhelming U.S. retaliation represents part of the Bush administration's expanding effort to strengthen the U.S. ability to deter potential adversaries. National security officials believe that the doctrine of deterrence-convincing enemies not to attack for fear of the consequences-was eroded by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"States hostile to the United States and to our friends and allies have demonstrated their willingness to take high risks to achieve their goals, and are aggressively pursuing [weapons of mass destruction] and their means of delivery as critical tools in this effort," the strategy states. "As a consequence, we require new methods of deterrence." In addition to strong military forces as a deterrent, it says, is the need for a "strong declaratory policy."

"The United States will continue to make clear that it reserves the right to respond with overwhelming force-including through resort to all of our options-to the use of [weapons of mass destruction] against the United States, our forces abroad, and friends and allies," according to the document.

Such a doctrine, however, requires an enhanced ability to determine the source of an attack quickly and effectively as well as improved means of launching a counterstrike, the strategy adds. "The primary objective of a response is to disrupt an imminent attack or an attack in progress, and eliminate the threat of future attacks," it says. "As with deterrence and prevention, an effective response requires rapid attribution and robust strike capability."

The new strategy affirms the Bush administration case for pre-emptive measures to prevent an attack involviung weapons of mass destruction in the first place. "This requires capabilities to detect and destroy an adversary's [weapons of mass destruction] assets before these weapons are used," according to the strategy document.

"In addition, robust active and passive defenses and mitigation measures must be in place to enable U.S. military forces and appropriate civilian agencies to accomplish their missions, and to assist friends and allies when [weapons of amss destruction] are used," the White House document says.

The six-page document, the first of its kind to be published by Washington, underscores the level of concern at the highest levels of the U.S. government about what Bush calls the "crossroads of radicalism and technology."

It calls for a "comprehensive strategy to counter this threat in all of its dimensions."

Nonproliferation treaties and other multilateral regimes-including the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, efforts to negotiate a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological Weapons Convention and the Missile Technology Control Regime-will remain a key pillar of U.S. efforts, according to the strategy.

Increasing the Nunn-Lugar program to dismantle weapons materials in the former Soviet Union-"particularly through the G-8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction"-is also considered a priority. Strengthened U.S. export controls and sanctions will also remain valuable tools, it adds.

Lastly, the strategy acknowledges that ultimately all of these efforts may fail to stop a successful nuclear, chemical, biological or radiological attack. "As part of our defense, the United States must be fully prepared to respond to the consequences of [weapons of mass destruction] use on our soil, whether by hostile states or by terrorists." It concludes, "The requirements to prevent, deter, defend against, and respond to today's...threats are complex and challenging. But they are not daunting. We can and will succeed in the tasks laid out in this strategy; we have no other choice."