Home | China | World | Business U.S. Pledges Again Not to Use Nuke-weapons Against Non-Nuclear States SUN, FEB 24, 2002     The Bush administration reiterated on Friday its policy not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states after reports claiming that Washington would drop the 24-year-old U.S. pledge. The United States will not use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states unless they attack the United States or its allies in alliance with nuclear-armed countries, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. The United States also reserved the right to use any kind of military response if it or its allies come under attack by weapons of mass destruction, he added. "This is a very important reiteration of U.S. nuclear policy," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association. "It's one of the rare instances where the Bush administration is following prior policy, rather than repudiating it." Boucher made the remark in response to a report in The Washington Times Friday which quoted a senior official as saying the Bush administration is no longer standing by the 1978 pledge. In an interview with the newspaper, John Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, said Washington is not looking for occasions to use its nuclear arsenal,but "would do whatever is necessary to defend America's innocent civilian population." "We are just not into theoretical assertions that other administrations have made," he said, adding that such commitments reflect "an unrealistic view of the international situation." "The idea that fine theories of deterrence work against everybody, which is implicit in the negative security assurances, has just been disproved by September 11," he said. "What we are attempting to do is to create a situation where nobody uses weapons of mass destruction of any kind." Bolton's remarks drew criticism from arms-control analysts and former administration officials. John Holum, Bolton's predecessor at the State Department under former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright, said this position would not affect the strategic balance of power but might send a wrong message overseas, according to the newspaper report. 　　 In fact, Boucher's remarks were almost identical to those given by former secretary of state Warren Christopher in 1995, while reaffirming a commitment made by the Carter administration in 1978.In what became known as the "negative security assurances," former secretary of state Cyrus Vance under the Carter administration made the following statement: "The United States will not use nuclear weapons against any non-nuclear-weapon state party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty or any comparable internationally binding commitment not to acquire nuclear explosive devices, except in the case of an attack on the United States, its territories or armed forces, or its allies, by such a state allied to a nuclear-weapon state, or associated with a nuclear-weapon state in carrying out or sustaining the attack." After the Clinton administration reaffirmed that commitment, the United Nations Security Council adopted in April 11, 1995, a resolution providing safety guarantees to non-nuclear states. 　 　 Editor:Zhong Source:xinhuanet Recommend to your friend email:    China Central Television,All Rights Reserved