-A less likely but by no means impossible armed altercation between Australia, which last year approved its largest military buildup since World War II, [11] and one of its neighbors, in the most dangerous instance Indonesia.
Canada is a founding member of NATO and Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Moldova, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates are NATO partner states under the Partnership for Peace, Mediterranean Dialogue, Istanbul Cooperation Initiative and Contact Country programs and several of them - Azerbaijan, Georgia, Israel and Moldova - have individual NATO partnerships.
With the exception of ice-bound Antarctica, the "allies and partners" rationale would permit Washington to threaten the use of or to in fact employ nuclear weapons on every continent.
If the realization of what an elastic interpretation of the Nuclear Posture Review, "with a lot of room for contingencies" and when "all bets are off," portends is not yet present in the U.S. itself, it is becoming so elsewhere. On April 11 Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized President Obama for threatening his nation with a nuclear attack, stating "An example of this is the recent statement by the US president, who implicitly threatened the Iranian nation with the use of nuclear arms." [12]
On the same day it was reported that the Iranian embassy in Denmark issued a similar condemnation of NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, stating:
"The former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's Wednesday article" - "The case for western missile defence" in The Guardian - "which raised some issues about Iran, was full of misinterpretations, ill-intent, and false accusations about Tehran's peaceful nuclear and missile activities."
"He, like others who seek any opportunity to spread their warmongering views, has once again resorted to preconceptions, lies and deception." [13] The Iranian Foreign Ministry has announced plans to raise the issue in the United Nations Security Council.
Rasmussen is the main ringleader of the U.S.'s major "allies and partners."
The NPR states "Although the risk of nuclear attack against NATO members is at an historic low, the presence of U.S. nuclear weapons - combined with NATO's unique nuclear sharing arrangements under which non-nuclear members participate in nuclear planning and possess specially configured aircraft capable of delivering nuclear weapons contribute to Alliance cohesion and provide reassurance to allies and partners who feel exposed to regional threats."
It also maintains that "Any changes in NATO's nuclear posture should only be taken after a thorough review within and decision by the Alliance.
"In Asia and the Middle East where there are no multilateral alliance structures analogous to NATO the United States has maintained extended deterrence through bilateral alliances and security relationships and through its forward military presence and security guarantees."
Part of February's Ballistic Missile Defense Review policy is to "Deploy new sensors in Europe to improve cueing for missiles launched at the United States by Iran or other potential adversaries in the Middle East," as well as to "Invest in further development of the Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) for future land-based deployment as the ICBM threat matures." [14]
It is not indicated when if ever Iran is expected to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of striking the U.S., a patent absurdity. Whether, for example, it would occur before or after al-Qaida acquires nuclear weapons according to Washington's claims is not specified.
The NPR states that "As President Obama has made clear, today's most immediate and extreme danger is nuclear terrorism."
It also contains a pledge to "maintain a safe, secure, and effective nuclear arsenal to deter attack on the United States, and on our allies and partners."
"Agile and flexible U.S. military forces with superior capabilities across a broad spectrum of potential operations are a vital component of this broad tool set."
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