Bush's new nuclear plan
The US poses as the world's defender against weapons of mass destruction even as it plans to create a new nuclear arsenal
For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the Pentagon is pushing for the creation of new types of nuclear weapons.
The Pentagon has put two plans on the table. One, they plan to retrofit old warheads in order to enhance their capability to destroy bunkers 1,000 feet deep. Two, they wish to design mini-nukes or small nuclear weapons suitable against stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons.
The Pentagon is proposing a $46 million budget to bankroll these plans for 2004.
In the last decade, the US congress had banned the creation of mini-nukes for fear that there will be less reluctance to use them. But just last month, Bush was able to convince the US Senate to do away with the ban. The issue is now being deliberated in the House of Representatives.
The Bush administration asserts that the US' present nuclear arsenal was designed to destroy cities and does not have the capability to penetrate deep into the ground where countries like Iran and North Korea supposedly manufacture and harbor their weapons of mass destruction. The US also claims that its present arsenal no longer serves as an effective deterrent. According to the US, its enemies reckon that it would not use its nuclear weapons weapons, fearing intense international opposition to the widespread damage that these weapons would bring about.
The Bush regime's real objective is to ease restrictions on the use of nuclear weapons, the better to terrorize and subdue the US' perceived enemies. It is easier to decide on using smaller and more precise nuclear weapons because the resultant damage will be much smaller compared to that caused by the old type of nuclear arms. The US wants to create a state of affairs where it can use nuclear arms freely and any time it wants to, as though they were ordinary weapons.
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