12. NATO Nuclear Strategy
According to a press advisory from the British American Security Information Council (BASIC), the Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger reported that NATO is moving forward with a plan to expand its strategic doctrine to, for the first time, threaten the use of nuclear weapons in retaliation for a chemical or biological attack. The paper quotes NATO Military Committee spokesman Colonel Frank Salis as saying that the alliance needs "equivalent means of deterrence as well as defense against all forms of possible attacks. Since the alliance does not have biological weapons or chemical weapons, it can only threaten by nuclear weapons."
"NATO Council Could Adopt Nuclear Strategy Today"
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In a response to questions in the Dutch Parliament, Netherlands' Foreign Minister van Aartsen said that NATO nuclear strategy has not changed as a result of a new policy guidance document, but added that the United States, "among others, does not exclude the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states 'under very special circumstances'." Aartsen explained that these circumstances "have not been specified further," but confirmed that it "could be in reaction to an attack with biological or chemical weapons."
"NATO Nuclear Strategy"