The United States military announced yesterday that it would convert some of its largest ballistic nuclear missiles to carry conventional warheads for use in precision attacks against terrorist targets or rogue states.
The decision formed part of the most comprehensive review of military since the terrorist attacks of September 11 and came the week America adopted a foreboding new name for its global war on terror: The Long War.
The United States is a nation engaged in a long war," the military said in a long document.
Among numerous proposals in the paper the most startling concerned the role of America's "super-weapons", the strategic missile arsenal.
The report stated briefly that the navy would convert "a small number of Trident submarine-launched ballistic missiles for use in conventional prompt global strike".
America's defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, did not directly mention the missile scheme but he emphasised that the West must quickly face up to the threat from radical Islam.
"Compelled by a militant ideology that celebrates murder and suicide, with no territory to defend, with little to lose, they will either succeed in changing our way of life, or we will succeed in changing theirs," he said.
The document, which also detailed plans to double America's fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles and spend $1.5 billion on developing medical responses to possible bio-terrorism attacks, seemed timed to reassure the nation as the government began to use increasingly ominous language to describe its military campaign.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Iran launched 'secret' rocket test
IRAN secretly tested a new surface-to-surface missile (SSM) on January 17, seeking to establish the measurements needed for long-range missiles, the German daily Die Welt reported in its issue to appear today.
The test, conducted by members of the Revolutionary Guard led by Yahya Rahim Safavi, was successful, according to Western diplomats cited by the newspaper, which did not indicate the location where the test took place.
On January 28, Safavi said that Iran would use its ballistic missiles if it was attacked.
"Iran has a ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 kilometres," he said on Iranian public television.
"We do not intend to attack any country, but if we are attacked, we are capable of effectively responding. Our position is defensive."
Mr Safavi was referring to the Shahab-3 missiles that Iran possesses which can reach Israel and US bases in the Middle East.
The test, conducted by members of the Revolutionary Guard led by Yahya Rahim Safavi, was successful, according to Western diplomats cited by the newspaper, which did not indicate the location where the test took place.
On January 28, Safavi said that Iran would use its ballistic missiles if it was attacked.
"Iran has a ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 kilometres," he said on Iranian public television.
"We do not intend to attack any country, but if we are attacked, we are capable of effectively responding. Our position is defensive."
Mr Safavi was referring to the Shahab-3 missiles that Iran possesses which can reach Israel and US bases in the Middle East.
IAEA Reports Iran to U.N. Security Council
The U.N. nuclear watchdog Saturday reported Iran to the U.N. Security Council in a resolution expressing concern that Tehran's nuclear program may not be "exclusively for peaceful purposes." Iran retaliated immediately, saying it would resume uranium enrichment at its main plant instead of in Russia.
The landmark decision by the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board sets the stage for future action by the top U.N. body, which has the authority to impose economic and political sanctions.
Still, any such moves were weeks if not months away. Two permanent council members, Russia and China, agreed to referral only on condition the council take no action before March.
Twenty-seven nations supported the resolution, which was sponsored by three European powers � Britain, France and Germany � and backed by the United States.
Cuba, Syria and Venezuela were the only nations to vote against. Five others � Algeria, Belarus, Indonesia, Libya and South Africa � abstained, a milder form of showing opposition.
Those backing the referral included India, a nation with great weight in the developing world whose stance was unclear until the vote.
Iran reacted immediately, saying a proposal by Moscow to enrich Iranian uranium in Russia was dead.
"Commercial scale uranium enrichment will be resumed in Natanz in accordance with the law passed by the parliament," Javad Vaeidi, deputy head of the powerful National Security Council, told Iran state television in a telephone interview from Vienna.
Breakdown of U.N. Vote on Iran
The landmark decision by the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board sets the stage for future action by the top U.N. body, which has the authority to impose economic and political sanctions.
Still, any such moves were weeks if not months away. Two permanent council members, Russia and China, agreed to referral only on condition the council take no action before March.
Twenty-seven nations supported the resolution, which was sponsored by three European powers � Britain, France and Germany � and backed by the United States.
Cuba, Syria and Venezuela were the only nations to vote against. Five others � Algeria, Belarus, Indonesia, Libya and South Africa � abstained, a milder form of showing opposition.
Those backing the referral included India, a nation with great weight in the developing world whose stance was unclear until the vote.
Iran reacted immediately, saying a proposal by Moscow to enrich Iranian uranium in Russia was dead.
"Commercial scale uranium enrichment will be resumed in Natanz in accordance with the law passed by the parliament," Javad Vaeidi, deputy head of the powerful National Security Council, told Iran state television in a telephone interview from Vienna.
Breakdown of U.N. Vote on Iran
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