Bush, “Nuclear Plan Has No News”

U.S. President George W. Bush explained that the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), in which a possibility of potential possibility of the U.S.`s nuclear attack, does not include a new thing, but he did not eliminate the possibility of using nuclear weapons.

Bush held a press conference to explain, “[the U.S. government] has had NPR since the Clinton administration. However, the U.S. leaves every possibility of using nuclear weapon open to protect the U.S. and our neighbors from the threats of enemies.” He also added, “Since we want to make sure that every nation would not threat the U.S. nor use weapons of mass destruction against the U.S. or our neighbors, we are reviewing every measure to respond now.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld held a joint press conference with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and explained to the reporters, “NRP is not a sort of `operation plan document.` We made a brief about the review in advance to Russia in January.”

He denied the report that the Review specifies some nations including Russia as the targets of nuclear attacks, saying “the Review contains no mention at all about the nuclear weapon attacks on specific countries.”

However, the Washington Post criticized the Bush administration at its editorial column tiled as `Nuts about Nukes` that the Bush administration is busy spinning its insignificance but the fact that they are `destroyers.`

WP pointed out that President Bush departed from the effort for the nuclear ban and the reduction of the armaments by hinting any nation cannot be exempted from the target of the U.S. nuclear attack. LA Times also asserted through its editorial titled `A Dangerous Lid to Lift,` “NPR eventually weakened the nuclear ban and broke down the criteria between nuclear weapons and conventional weapons. The Bush administration should reject it publicly and the U.S. Congress must raise questions about the issue actively.”

Sung-Kyu Kim kimsk@donga.com