Retaliation to a Chemical Attack in a Major Regional Conflict: Courses of Actionand Consequences

摘要

How should the Operational Commander address retaliation to chemical warfare inhis deliberate planning process. Joint Doctrine and the Gulf War appear to indicate that nuclear weapons form the basis for an appropriate retaliation course of action. However, Nuclear Posture statements, policy discussions, and military engagement post facto revelations tend to minimize the employment probability of nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons do not present viable courses of action around which an executable plan can be built. However, conventional courses of action do, through analysis of chemical weapons, current policy and doctrine, nuclear employment probability, and regional perspectives, conventional courses of action surface as the politically and militarily supportable basis for planning. In addition to being a credible deterrent, employment in a retaliatory mode is not likely to ignite the global political maelstrom incidental to instigating the potential for nuclear war.