July 1, 2003
The Guardian (UK)

US-based Missiles to Have Global Reach

by Julian Borger

The Pentagon is planning a new generation of weapons, including huge hypersonic drones and bombs dropped from space, that will allow the US to strike its enemies at lightning speed from its own territory.

Over the next 25 years, the new technology would free the US from dependence on forward bases and the cooperation of regional allies, part of the drive towards self-suffi ciency spurred by the difficulties of gaining international cooperation for the invasion of Iraq.

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[The Bush administration is planning a secret meeting in August to discuss the construction of a new generation of nuclear weapons, including "mini-nukes", "bunker-busters" and neutron bombs designed to destroy chemical or biological agents, according to a leaked Pentagon document.

The meeting of senior military officials and US nuclear scientists at the Omaha headquarters of the US Strategic Command would also decide whether to restart nuclear testing and how to convince the American public that the new weapons are necessary.--Julian Borger, "US plan for new nuclear arsenal," Guardian, February 19, 2003]

Enver Masud, "U.S. Violating Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," The Wisdom Fund, March 11, 2003

[The secret trainer is similar to the mobile units that the Bush administration has accused Iraq of building to produce biological weapons. . . . Critics say such biodefense projects often test the limits of the 1975 global ban on germ weapons, which the United States championed.--William J. Broad, David Johnston and Judith Miller, "Subject of Anthrax Inquiry Tied to Anti-Germ Training," New York Times, July 2, 2003]

Tom Squitieri, "Bush pushes for next generation of nukes," USA Today, July 7, 2003

[Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has told senior American diplomats that developing new weapons could encourage other countries to violate the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.--Julian Coman, "Pentagon wants 'mini-nukes' to fight terrorists," Telegraph (UK), October 26, 2003]

Walter Pincus, "U.S. Plans to Modernize Nuclear Arsenal," Washington Post, March 4, 2006

[The administration, however, wants the capability to turn out 125 new nuclear bombs per year by 2022 . . . Similar proposals in the past, such as for a nuclear bomb to attack underground bunkers, provoked concern that they undermined U.S. policy to stop nuclear proliferation.--Ralph Vartabedian, "U.S. Rolls Out Nuclear Plan," Los Angeles Times, April 6, 2006]