Bulletin No. 9
Publication date: April- May 2002
Summary
When President Bush announced last May that in future US military posture would rely on "both offensive and defensive forces", the rationale given was to "preserve peace for generations to come". In the past month, two developments have highlighted the true nature of the Bush Administration's intentions for "offensive and defensive" forces.
The leaked Nuclear Posture Review revealed that the US was prepared to use nuclear weapons against seven named countries and confirmed US intentions to develop new nuclear weapons potentially involving a resumption of nuclear testing. At the same time, Pentagon officials revealed that with the ABM treaty out of the way, the US is planning an expanded Star Wars system possibly including nuclear-tipped interceptors.
