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FOREIGN PRESS
Nuclear Fears Abound
March 17, 2002
The Pentagon's Nuclear Posture Review, disclosed recently in The Times, raised a fierce outcry in
the international press. The nations targeted for possible preemptive nuclear strikes--Russia, China,
North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Libya--were predictably outraged. But U.S. allies--from South
Korea to tiny Papua New Guinea--were also concerned, warning that U.S. nuclear brinkmanship
would put the world at risk. What follows is a sampling of opinion from foreign newspapers.
(Compiled by Gale Holland)
*
AUSTRALIA
What does [the Nuclear Posture Review] say to the rest of the international community? It says that
nonproliferation of nuclear weapons is a mug's game, and that we should all get our hands on the
damnable things.
--Andy Butfoy, The Age
*
CANADA
If any other country but the U.S. started talking about launching preemptive strikes on nonnuclear
players, Bush would be furiously denouncing it as an "axis of evil," a rogue state, or worse ....What
reason do the countries on the Pentagon hit list for "preemptive" attack now have to show restraint?
Either way, they are targets. And if the Americans, even with their devastating conventional arsenal,
feel justified in dropping a "small" nuclear bomb down some Iraqi bunker, why should lesser players
not want to incinerate their foes' major cities?
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday March 24, 2002 Home Edition Opinion Part M Page 3 Opinion Desk 1
inches; 23 words Type of Material: Correction
In an Opinion article last week, 'Nuclear Fears Abound,' a word was omitted from the name of an
Irish newspaper. The publication is actually the Belfast News Letter.
--Unsigned editorial, Toronto Star
*
CHINA
The new U.S. strategy is a "full-spectrum" strategy of military deterrence, oriented at all possible
future foes as well as an excuse for the establishment of all-round military superiority ....Once the
United States gets rid of the fear of nuclear reprisal from countries with a few nuclear weapons, the
possible use of U.S. nuclear weapons in real combat will be further augmented.
--Zhu Qiangguo, China Daily
*
ENGLAND
Will [Vice President Dick] Cheney [during his trip abroad] grasp the perception common outside the
U.S. that never has a nation squandered sympathy and moral advantage so quickly and with such
wantonness? And if he does, will he care? Does America mind becoming a global hate figure? What
happens to the mentality of a country when it's not loved, only feared? What patterns of aggressive
defensiveness take root? These are the questions that trigger anxiety
--Madeline Bunting, The Guardian
The dangers of a nuclear war have never been greater. Because this is no longer a Cold War. It's
hotter than hell, and it's only too real.
--Unsigned editorial, Daily Star
*
FRANCE
It will be said, to reassure us--in vain--that the job of military planners ... is to foresee the worst
eventualities and the means to respond to them.... Nevertheless, the revelation ... of a [Nuclear
Posture Review] sends chills up the spine. It reveals a Bush administration that has drawn only
military conclusions from Sept. 11....It uproots the principle of atomic nonproliferation. Why sign,
or remain signatory to, a treaty which, in exchange for your absolute renunciation of nuclear arms,
does not guarantee that they will not be used against you? In invoking the possibility of a first strike,
it accepts as normal the idea of putting to use a weapon that was originally conceived as a deterrent.
The Pentagon document is worthy of a state in the grip of panic; not of a world power conscious of
its responsibilities. It is frightening.
--Unsigned editorial, Le Monde
*
GERMANY
Diplomatic niceties have never been George W. Bush's strong suit.... But what became known [last
week] topped everything that came before it. In a 56-page secret report, Bush's military developed
sweeping plans for a future nuclear war ....The new plans ... are creating unease in the entire world."
--Unsigned editorial, Der Spiegel
"For the non-atomic weapons states in NATO this development is especially explosive. At least six
of them, including Germany, are obliged, in the framework of the alliance's internal system "nuclear
participation," to make available missiles that could be armed with American nuclear weapons....The
[German] government wants to avoid having "nuclear participation" even come up for discussion.
But a debate is more urgent than ever.
--Roland Heine, Berliner Zeitung
*
IRAN
Like King George III, who misjudged the Boston events and lost the American colonies, Godwilling, President Bush will preside over the end of the U.S. as a world power, but not [before] he
creates more catastrophes for other civilizations.
Nevertheless, the world is prepared to pay the price for peace without being cowed by American
contingency plans for use of nuclear weapons. After all, the Americans manufactured the atom
bomb to use, as they so criminally demonstrated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, and not for
keeping weapons of mass destruction in a showcase as pieces of aesthetic art.
--S. Nawabzadeh, Kayhan International
*
IRELAND
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