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01/28/2003 Archived Entry: "Nuclear weapons and Iraq"

WHAT WOULD STOP IRAQ FROM ATTACKING THE US?: It's no secret that back during Desert Storm, George H.W. Bush sent a back channel message to Saddam Hussein about the use of biological or chemical weapons against coalition forces during the war. If you use a WMD against, the U.S. will respond with a nuclear attack. Despite the fact that we know Hussein possessed these weapons, he didn't use them because he knew that U.S. doctrine considered all NBC attacks as equivalent for the purposes of response.

Steven Den Beste says that it's no different in 2003. If Saddam Hussein is insane enough to launch a NBC attack in the U.S., Iraq will be turned into a lake of blood and fire.

"Our doctrine is that there is no difference between biological, chemical and nuclear weapons for purposes of calculating escalation, and if anyone uses chemical or biological weapons against us then we would not consider a nuclear response to be 'first use'."

As he points out, it's a doctrine that goes back to World War II when the U.S. warned Germany not to use nerve has against its soldiers. The response would be a massive chemical attack against German soldiers and possibly cities.

Read on.