Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=3/10/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= U-S/NUCLEAR PLANNING (L only)

NUMBER=2-287391

BYLINE= PAULA WOLFSON

DATELINE= WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Bush administration officials say a Pentagon report on nuclear planning does not represent a major change in U-S policy. And they deny the United States is developing a new class of nuclear weapons for possible future use. V-O-A's Paula Wolfson has more on the story.

TEXT: Details of the classified Pentagon document appeared in weekend editions of three major American newspapers.

The 56-page Defense Department report deals with the changing nuclear threat facing the United States, and the nation's ability to respond.

According to accounts in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post, the report sees both new targets and new weapons. The document says America should have contingency plans in place to respond to hostile acts by North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Libya. It also says the United States should develop new, smaller nuclear weapons that could be used to attack heavily fortified underground bunkers where chemical or biological arms are stored.

Secretary of State Colin Powell downplayed the report during an appearance on the C-B-S news program "Face the Nation." He said the Pentagon routinely reviews nuclear options.

/// POWELL ACT ///

This is prudent military planning. And the kind of planning, I think, the American people would expect.

/// END ACT ///

He said the nuclear threat has evolved, that the Soviet Union is gone and there is growing concern about new countries seeking weapons of mass destruction. He said the American nuclear arsenal is being modified in response to the changing threat, but no new weapons systems are planned.

/// POWELL ACT TWO ///

What we are looking at, what we have asked the Pentagon to do, is to see whether or not, within our lowered inventory levels, we might want to modify, or update, or change some of the weapons in our inventory to make them more effective.

/// END ACT ///

White House National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice was also asked about the Pentagon document Sunday. She told N-B-C television's "Meet the Press" that the United States has to look at all kinds of contingencies.

/// RICE ACT ///

/// OPT /// No one should be surprised that the United States worries a great deal about the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, that we are going to do everything that we can to deter their use against American forces, American lives or American territory, and that /// END OPT /// it has been longstanding American policy that the president reserve his options in determining how to respond, should some state threaten, or use weapons of mass destruction against us.

/// END ACT ///

Ms. Rice also noted that most of the Pentagon report focuses on steps to make the use of nuclear weapons less likely through improvements in intelligence gathering, conventional weapons and missile defense. (signed)

NEB/PW/TW