You wish I was kidding.

Really interesting article over on GlobalSecurity.org ("Reliable Security Information") today. I first read about this story in the print media, but--with the exception of the National Post, who fronted the news--coverage was thin and superficial so I decided to follow up.

"Joint Publication 3-12: Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations" is a brief "prepared under the direction of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff" and represents an overhaul of the United States' nuclear weapons deployment program; this will be the first major revision of the program since the days of the Cold War.

This draft, if it eventually becomes approved by Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, will permit the US to launch pre-emptive nuclear strikes against hostile nations, biological weapons facilities, terrorist groups, etc. The idea is to emphasize the role nuclear weapons play as a deterrent by actually using them.

Considering the American intelligence community's track record when it comes to finding WMDs and known terrorists, I think this falls under the broad category of Bad Idea™. I've got a better one: let's just round up a few thousand toddlers, give each of them a kerosene-soaked rag and a Zippo, and send them into the foothills of Afghanistan. The law of averages suggests that one of them might set a terrorist training camp alight.