Luis Enrique Ascui Bruce Lemkin, deputy undersecretary for international affairs in the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Air Force..

A senior U.S. policy-maker on international programs supporting national security made it clear he did not believe the United States would or should reverse its policy of seeking out and destroying weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Bruce Lemkin, deputy undersecretary for international affairs in the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, said the United States would “offer no apologies” for its policy on WMDs. “Just imagine if, on 9/11, those four planes were packed with weapons of mass destruction,” he told delegates here Feb. 23 at the Asia Pacific Security Conference 2004.

“Our terrorist enemies have made it no secret that they seek to acquire weapons of mass destruction, and can there be any doubt that when they get them, they will use them?” Lemkin said during the conference’s first panel discussion, “Security Challenges in the Asia Pacific.”

The Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, a think-tank affiliated with Singapore’s Nayang Technological University, and Asian Aerospace Pte. Ltd. jointly produced the conference. Defense News is the official media partner for the event.

Lemkin described the war on terrorism as a global one that requires a multinational response. “In building relationships with other nations in this fight, we expand our own capabilities and we assist our friends and partners in achieving their goals and capabilities to maintain their security in consort with us,” he said.

Lemkin also emphasized that the military should support, rather than lead, the effort to counter terrorism and WMD proliferation. “We should put intelligence and law enforcement ahead of the military,” he said. “Unconventional threats require unconventional thinking. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

“Terrorism is the greatest threat to peace in our time. It will not go away on its own. We must out think it, out maneuver it and kill it.”

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