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Oct 14 11:09 AM US/Eastern
By DAVID NOWAK
Associated Press Writer MOSCOW (AP) - A top Russian security official says Moscow reserves the
right to conduct pre-emptive nuclear strikes to safeguard the country
against aggression on both a large and a local scale, according to a
newspaper interview published Wednesday.
Presidential Security Council chief Nikolai Patrushev also singled out
the U.S. and NATO, saying Moscow's Cold War foes still pose potential
threats to Russia despite what he called a global trend toward local
conflicts. The interview appeared in the daily Izvestia during a visit by U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, as U.S. and Russian
negotiators try to hammer out a nuclear arms reduction treaty by
December. It also came amid grumbling in Moscow over U.S. moves to
modify plans for a missile shield near Russia's borders rather than
ditch the idea outright. Patrushev said a sweeping document on military policy including a
passage on preventative nuclear force will be handed to President Dmitry
Medvedev by the end of the year, according to Izvestia. Officials are examining "a variety of possibilities for using nuclear
force, depending on the situation and the intentions of the possible
opponent," Patrushev was quoted as saying. "In situations critical to
national security, options including a preventative nuclear strike on
the aggressor are not excluded." The proposed doctrine would allow for the use of nuclear weapons "to
repel an aggression with the use of conventional weapons not only in a
large-scale but also in a regional and even local war," Patrushev was
quoted as saying. He said a government analysis of the threat of
conflict in the world showed "a shift from large-scale conflicts to
local wars and armed conflicts." "However, earlier military dangers and threats for our country have not
lost significance," he was quoted as saying. "Activity on receiving new
members into NATO is not ceasing. The military activity of the bloc is
being stepped up. U.S. strategic forces are conducting intensive
training on using strategic nuclear weapons." Russian military analysts said the hawkish former domestic intelligence
chief's remarks were mostly muscle-flexing for show, because what he
revealed about the proposed new doctrine suggests it differs little from
the current one. One independent analyst, Alexander Golts, said current policy already
allows for a nuclear strike to repel an aggression of any sort. Another,
Pavel Felgenhauer, said that effectively allows for a pre-emptive strike
because the type of aggression that would warrant such a strike is not
clearly defined. Russia' NATO envoy, Dmitry Rogozin, argued the proposed doctrine does
not contradict arms reduction efforts. "We are moving toward a reduction
in nuclear arsenals," he told Ekho Moskvy radio. Still, Patrushev's focus on local conflicts could rattle Georgia, the
small neighbor that Russia routed in a five-day conventional war with
Russia last year. Analysts also said his description of the proposed policy shows Russia's
growing reliance on nuclear arms as its conventional arsenal decays and
unpopular military reforms stall. Observers say the war with Georgia
exposed frailties in Russia's military, adding urgency to planned reforms. In a symptomatic setback, a scheduled test launch of the new Bulava
intercontinental ballistic missile—which has failed in seven of its 11
test launches so far—was postponed, the state-run RIA Novosti news
agency reported. The Bulava has been billed as the future of Russia's
nuclear arsenal.
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