Washington, Dec 11: The US has named Iran, Syria, North Korea and Libya among countries it will strike preemptively, if necessary, in order to bar them from acquiring transferred components of Weapons of Mass Destruction, media report said.
According to a secret annex of the Bush administration made public by the White House, the US threatens preemptive use of military or covert force, including the use of nuclear weapons, before an enemy unleashes Weapons of Mass Destruction.
"The reference to the directive naming Iran, Syria, North Korea and Libya among countries which the us will deter from acquiring transferred weapons components or destroy the components before they can be assembled is contained in a top secret appendix to the revised preventive or preemptive war doctrine," the Washington Post said in a report.
These countries are "the central focus of the new the US
approach," the paper said.
"Administration officials said the new policy does not imply that the President George W. Bush, intends to use military force, covert or overt, in any of the countries named in the secret annex. He is, however, determined to stop transfers of weapons components in or out of their borders," the paper said.
The policy sets out the practical ramifications of Bush's doctrine of preemption, outlined in a national security strategy document released in September, which turns away from the Cold War doctrine based on mere deterrence and containment,
the Post said.
The preemption doctrine envisages taking on hostile states before they can strike.
Bureau Report
