Gulf News says: Their own worst enemy

The United States is its own worst enemy. At the same time that it is trying to improve relations with Russia and China, the Bush administration has asked the Pentagon to draw up plans on how it might target its nuclear weapons at those two countries, along with Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Libya and Syria.

In one move, the U.S. has reinforced the image put about by its enemies that is the greatest threat to world peace, exactly the opposite of what the Bush administration has been trying to portray. It is ridiculous that the Bush administration is aiming nuclear weapons at countries with which it is trying to befriend. The Russians and Chinese feel betrayed; the Iranians are wondering why they have tried to achieve better relations with the U.S.; and the Syrians are horrified, just as they have been moving into the mainstream of diplomacy; the Iraqis will be delighted that their wilder statements on America have been proved real.

In addition, the Pentagon wants to use nuclear weapons on a battlefield level, which creates far more opportunities to use the weapon of last resort. For example, they could have dropped a nuclear shell into the Tora Bora caves, and given the worst possible example to the two most recent nuclear states, Pakistan and India. Both these states would have drawn the lesson that tactical use of nuclear weapons was acceptable.

Nuclear weapons are too awful to contemplate as part of the normal armoury of any nation because the destruction they offer is so total and all embracing. The Cold War is over, and the balance of terror is not required. Better understanding between nations is far more effective than aiming nuclear weapons at friends.