It makes the White House look waffling and weak. hear disturbing reports of a Threshold Test Ban Treaty can get as far as they have in challenging established presidential policy on this issue. WASHINGTON, J- Senior Pentagon officials are concerned that Israel could carry out an attack on Irans nuclear facilities before the end of the year, an action that would have enormous security and economic repercussions for the United States and the rest of the world. Sri Lankan ambassador Jayantha Dhanapala, who presided over the NPT conference, told a disarmament conference in Japan last week that "we. Word of the Defense proposal has stirred concern among foreign diplomats, who last month negotiated the extension of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which calls on nonnuclear weapons states to forswear acquisition of such arms in exchange for a policy of restraint by the five declared nuclear powers. Some officials have also advised holding up a decision until the international furor provoked by France's recent decision to conduct a few more nuclear tests over the next year dies down. But a decision is likely to be postponed until the plan is examined more carefully, they said.Ī report by the Jasons, a group of eminent physicists who advise the government on military matters, is due by the end of July. O'Leary and other top officials are to discuss the issue at a White House meeting early this week, several sources said. Perry, Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Secretary of Energy Hazel R. The critics say it makes a mockery of Washington's pledge at the United Nations last month to support completion of a comprehensive test ban by 1996. Officials at the Energy Department and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency are fighting the plan, with support from independent arms control experts. practice of setting off experimental blasts to test the reliability of existing nuclear arms and develop new models of these powerful weapons. The proposal arises out of Pentagon concern that the world will soon agree to ban all nuclear tests, halting forever the 47-year U.S. Times ran a story that began : ' Russia is moving tactical nuclear. underground nuclear tests for the first time since 1992 at levels equivalent to hundreds of tons of TNT, provoking an intense debate inside the Clinton administration, U.S. Most pointedly, she said it made little sense for the United States to provide.
Some senior Defense Department officials have proposed to renew U.S.
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