from Defence news
a new as yet un-official defence policy looking at the use of nuclear weapons in the modern world and modern warfare situations
the article suggests most of it is pretty much what you'd expect. pre-emptive use of weapons to prevent nuclear biological or chemical attack on the Us her forces and allies etc
the quotes in this paragraph though seem to be aimed very specifically at iran, and possibly North Korea, and Iran in particular should sit up and take notice
In the context of the U.S.-led war on terror, the draft explicitly warns that any attempt by a hostile power to hand over weapons of mass destruction to militant groups to enable them to strike a devastating blow against the United States will likely trigger a U.S. nuclear response against the culprit. Regional U.S. commanders may request presidential approval to go nuclear to respond to adversary-supplied WMD use by surrogates against U.S. and multinational forces or civilian populations, the draft says.
while the thoughts behind this document are clear, there are too many nuclear powers in this world to risk any form of nuclear confrontation, even on the tactical nuclear level.
at least when forces restrict themselves to a bloody, but conventional war, we don't risk starting WWIII or deliberately mass kill civilians