The aggressive nuclear posture of the US is leading to an escalation of the race for nuclear weapons.
In December 2002, for the first time, a US administration led by George Bush announced that the US was prepared to deploy nuclear weapons preemptively. Now a draft document provides guidance for military commanders on how to request presidential approval
The document envisages the deployment of nuclear weapons against an enemy using or intending to use weapons of mass destruction against the US. It also lists the use of atomic weapons for attacks on deep, hardened bunkers containing chemical or biological weapons, the so called 'bunker buster' bombs.
As Richard Norton Taylor points out in the Guardian:
*The proposed new doctrine significantly lowers the threshold for triggering the use of nuclear weapons, notably America's 480 tactical nuclear bombs in Europe, including the 110 at the US base at Lakenheath in East Anglia.'
A Pentagon document released under the Freedom of Information Act projects a planned force level of up to 2,200 operationally deployed strategic warheads in 2012 - a clear indication that Russia and China remain the predominant focus of US nuclear planning.
While deepening its commitment to nuclear weapons Washington helped to sabotage the conference on the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) in New York in May this year. The US and the other four declared nuclear weapons states refused to take steps towards "the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals" as agreed in 2000.
The aggressive nuclear posture of the US is leading to an escalation of the race for nuclear weapons. To try to counter this, in October 2004 at the UN First Committee, the New Agenda Coalition (South Africa, Ireland, Sweden, Mexico, Egypt, Brazil) proposed a resolution calling on the nuclear weapon states "to take further steps to reduce their non-strategic arsenals and not to develop new types of nuclear weapons, in accordance with their commitment to diminish the role of nuclear weapons in their security policies".
The vote on this was 135 for, five against (US, UK, France, Israel, Latvia). Russia abstained.
The 'for' votes included China and importantly, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Turkey, all members of NATO who have US tactical nuclear weapons on their soil.
Tactical nuclear weapons are incorporated into the military planning of the nuclear weapons states and NATO. They are promoted as 'usable nukes' but they cause huge damage themselves and could lead to a nuclear conflict of unimaginable proportions.
The US presides over a "nuclear apartheid" in the world, permitting the possession of nuclear weapons by Israel, which protects its interests in the Middle East, and by Pakistan and India, its allies in the "war on terror".
Iran and North Korea on the other hand are branded by the US as belonging to the "axis of evil" because they are alleged to possess, or to be about to develop, nuclear weapons.
The fact that Iran has signed the non-proliferation treaty and has not breached its provisions does not change the US attitude. Iran is one of the states that stand in the way of Washington's plans for control of the Middle East and its resources.
Control of the Middle East is part of the grand design of the US for domination of the world through its absolute military superiority.
There is growing concern internationally about the aggressive nuclear posture of the US. While some countries within NATO have been calling for the withdrawal of tactical nuclear weapons from Europe, they shy away from urging a change in NATO's nuclear weapons policy because they fear repercussions for "transatlantic relations".
The British government, the staunchest ally of the US in Europe, remains committed to nuclear weapons.
While British defence secretary John Reid promised a debate in Parliament about a replacement for Trident, he said a vote would not be allowed.
The Ministry of Defence has refused to release documents under the Freedom of Information Act relevant to the
There are clear indications that the government intends to replace Trident at an estimated cost of £15bn.
If it does so it will breach the non-proliferation treaty it has signed and provide another huge challenge for anti-war campaigners in this country.
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Administration has received 1.6 million disaster loan applications in Louisiana ...and has approved just nine of them. A US Senator reported that maintenance workers at the Superdome are being replaced by out of town workers who will work for less money and no benefits.
He also reported that 75 Louisiana electricians at the Naval Air Station are being replaced by workers from Kellogg Brown and Root - a