[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]