WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The Bush administration has ordered contingency plans
for a U.S. nuclear attack on Middle East states that are developing
nonconventional weapons.The states that could come under attack from U.S. tactical nuclear
weapons include Iraq, Iran, Libya and Syria, a classified Defense Department
report said. None of these states are believed to yet have nuclear weapons."All have long-standing hostility towards the United States and its
security partners," the report said. "All sponsor or harbor terrorists, and
have active WMD [weapons of mass destruction] and missile programs."The Pentagon report, which has been confirmed by Bush administration
officials and relayed to Congress, envisioned a U.S. nuclear attack on a
range of Middle East rogue states. The scenarios include retaliation
for a nonconventional attack on Israel, a chemical or biological weapons
strike on U.S. troops or interests and the U.S. destruction of underground
nonconventional facilities in the Middle East.
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