Citing a classified Pentagon report, the Los Angeles Timesreported today that the Bush administration has told the Defense Department to prepare, on a contingency basis, plans to use nuclear weapons against at least seven countries.
The military was also directed to build smaller nuclear weapons for use in certain battlefield situations, the newspaper reported.
The countries named in the secret report - provided to Congress on January 8th - were China, Russia, Iraq, North Korea, Iran, Libya and Syria, the Timesreported.
The three contingencies listed for possible use of the weapons were "against targets able to withstand non-nuclear attack; in retaliation for attack with nuclear, biological or chemical weapons; or "in the event of surprising military developments," according to the newspaper.
"The report says the Pentagon should be prepared to use nuclear weapons in an Arab-Israeli conflict, in a war between China and Taiwan, or in an attack from North Korea on the south. They might also become necessary in an attack by Iraq on Israel or another neighbour," the Timessaid.
"Officials have long acknowledged that they had detailed nuclear plans for an attack on Russia. However, this "Nuclear Posture Review" apparently marks the first time that an official list of potential target countries has come to light," analysts told the paper.
However, conservative analysts said that the Pentagon must prepare for all possibilities as other countries, and some terrorist groups, are engaged in weapons development programs.
Their position was that smaller weapons have a deterrent role because rogue nations or terrorists might not believe that the United States would use more destructive multi-kiloton weapons, the Timesreported.