WMD: A primer - Eric Margolis

[reprehensor]

http://www.canoe.com/Columnists/margolis_feb15.html

"Weapons of mass destruction." No term has been more abused, or less understood. George Bush has made it his personal mantra, and the slogan of his presidency.

An administration that may have concocted fake evidence to launch war on Iraq may yet conveniently "discover" unconventional weapons there - before November's U.S. elections. So let's define what such weapons are - and are not.

Three types of unconventional arms are called WMD: nuclear, chemical and biological.

Of those, the only true weapons of mass destruction are nuclear. The U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea, alone possess them. Japan could make nuclear weapons within 90 days.

Without specialized medium and long-range delivery systems (aircraft or missiles), nuclear weapons are useless, even suicidal.

More at link.