The Theater Commander's Preemptive Strike Option against WMD.

Today theater commanders face emerging regional powers and transnational groups seeking to acquire WMD. Unfortunately, current international safeguards, such as the NPTIAEA are ineffective. Additionally, key systems for protection and prevention of WMD are not yet available to the theater commander. This papers thesis is to bring to the forefront of the DoD Counterproliferation Initiative, a preemptive strike option to counter WMD threats. Within this strategy, the theater commander can create the condition where the cost to enter the WMD arena would be too high. It is an active operational strategy that seeks to contain current proliferents, discourage new actors from becoming proliferents, and if necessary, punish those that are too unpredictable or irrational. This theater strategy also advocates use of nuclear weapons as a preemptive option especially when targeted against chemical and biological threats. This strategy requires extensive theater planning and preparations, including theater exercises and war games to confirm ends, ways, means and risks associated with the decision to launch preemptive strikes on different target sets throughout a theater of operations. It is an open, clearly defined strategy to exploit our military advantage against known threats before they can strike our allies or us.