The United States raised the temperature in its confrontation with Iraq over weapons of mass destruction, saying it could go nuclear if such weapons were used against its forces or its allies.
Washington issued the warning as UN arms inspectors carried out the most intensive inspections in Iraq of their current mission. At the same time, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry accused Washington of trying to find a pretext for war.
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Head UN weapons inspector, Mr Hans Blix
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Iraq accused the United States of looking for an excuse for war by seizing control from the United Nations of distribution of the 11,000-page declaration of Iraq's weapons programs.
The White House said the accusation was "laughable," but Security Council members such as Norway and Syria - who will be given only an edited copy of the document - said they were being treated as second-class powers.
"The United States will continue to make clear that it reserves the right to respond with overwhelming force - including through resort to all our options - to the use of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) against the United States, our forces abroad, and friends and allies," the US strategy report said.
Senior US officials said the passage on nuclear deterrence was not a change in policy but had been added to the document, the first update since 1993, to put increased emphasis on the role of deterrence against a weapons of mass destruction attack.
About two dozen UN arms inspectors arrived in Iraq yesterday, bringing to about 70 the number of inspectors engaged in the hunt for any hidden weapons programs.
At the United Nations, chief weapons inspector Mr Hans Blix said he hoped to have an assessment of the Iraqi arms declaration next week after distributing an edited version of the document to the full Security Council.
Anti-war demonstrators rallied across the US yesterday, with protests ranging from a letter from Hollywood celebrities to a pot-banging march to the White House. They were some of the most widespread demonstrations against the US military buildup around Iraq, with events in about 120 towns and cities to coincide with International Human Rights Day.
But polls show most Americans support Mr Bush's threat to use force to disarm the Gulf nation, and the anti-war rallies were a far cry from the large, passionate protests during the Vietnam War years.