Powell, "No Plan to Undergo Testing of New Nuclear Weapons"

Ñ Opposition and worry = The British Foreign Office and the Italian Defense Minister, Antonio Martino, dismissed the project as routine military planning. A North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) spokesman said it was too soon to comment.

However, Iran accused the U.S. of trying to frighten other countries. According to the Khabar Press, Iranian President Mohammad Khatimi said, “Although the U.S. blamed Iran as an `axis of evil,` history will judge that who has promoted the dialogue and who has increased the violence,” in a meeting with the Bosnian Foreign Minister, who is visiting in Tehran.

While the Russian government did not comment, critics evaluated it as an unpleasant threat. Leonid Ivashov, a former top Defense Ministry official, said, “It`s about time Russian politicians stopped having illusions that Washington wishes Moscow well,” in an interview with the Interfax. While the Chinese government made no official comment, most of the government officials and scholars expressed their unpleasantness, “It clearly revealed the U.S.` basic understanding on China.”

Ñ U.S. tries to dampen = Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said on the CBS News program, on Mar. 10th, explained that, “From a conventional viewpoint, no country is a target of our nuclear weapons. This report is prudent military planning, and it is the kind of planning I think the American people would expect.”

He emphasized, “We are not developing brand new nuclear weapons, and we are not planning to undergo any testing. It is not true.”

On NBC` “Meet the Press,” National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice also said, “No one should be surprised that the U.S. worries a great deal about the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. And that it has been long-standing American policy that the President reserves his options in determining hot to respond, should some state threaten or should some state use weapons of mass destruction against us.” She added that, “We all want to made the use of weapons of mass destruction less likely. The way that you do that is to send a very strong signal to anyone who might try to use weapons of mass destruction against the U.S. that would be met with a devastating response.”

Ki-Heung Han eligius@donga.com