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AP. 11 March 2002. World Reacts to U.S. Nuclear Plan. LONDON -- Most governments responded gingerly Monday to the Pentagon's new study on using nuclear weapons, but China said it was "deeply shocked" and critics in many countries worried it could destabilize an already uncertain world. The U.S. Defense Department has sent Congress a classified report outlining the possible use of nuclear weapons against countries that possess or are developing weapons of mass destruction. The "nuclear posture review" identified seven nations: China, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Russia and Syria. China's Foreign Ministry on Monday demanded the United States explain the report, and spokesman Sun Yuxi told the official Xinhua News Agency that "China, like other countries, is deeply shocked" to be in the group of seven. "The U.S. side bears the responsibility to make an explanation on this matter," Sun was quoted as saying. Sun said China and the United States have an agreement not to target each other with nuclear weapons and said China's small nuclear arsenal didn't threaten any other nation.< "Countries with nuclear weapons should undertake unconditionally not to be the first to use them, and not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear state or nuclear-weapon-free regions," Sun said. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said such a review "can cause only regret and concern." "And not only Russia's concern, but the concern of the entire international community," he said. "Such plans can only destabilize and exacerbate the situation." Iran -- tagged by President Bush as part of an "axis of evil" -- offered an immediate angry response. Government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh compared the United States to terrorists and said the report showed that America would never observe international laws on the use of nuclear weapons, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. "The Islamic Republic believes that the era of using force to push forward international relations is long past, and those who resort to the logic of force follow exactly the same logic as terrorists, although they are in the position of power," the news agency said. "America thinks that if a military threat looms large over the head of these seven countries, they will give up their logical demands," IRNA quoted former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani as saying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
