WASHINGTON (AP) - Harkening back to the Cold War era of nuclear standoff, the U.S. military's nuclear command says an ``irrational and vindictive'' demeanor against adversaries such as Iraq may help deter conflict.

The view is contained in an internal study, ``Essentials of Post-Cold War Deterrence,'' written by the Strategic Command, the multiservice headquarters responsible for the nation's strategic nuclear arsenal.

``Because of the value that comes from the ambiguity of what the U.S. may do to an adversary if the acts we seek to deter are carried out, it hurts to portray ourselves as too fully rational and cool-headed,'' the 1995 study said.

The British-American Security Information Council, a London-based think tank, cited the study in its report as an example of the Pentagon's push to maintain a mission for its nuclear arsenal long after the Soviet threat disappeared.

The report portrays the Omaha, Neb.-based Strategic Command, or STRATCOM, as fighting an internal bureaucratic battle against liberal Clinton administration officials who lean in favor of dramatic nuclear weapons reductions.

While budgets for nuclear weapons have declined dramatically, the command appears to have succeeded in shifting the U.S. nuclear deterrent strategy from the former Soviet Union to so-called rogue states - Iraq, Libya, Cuba, North Korea and the like.

The study uses Cold War language in defending the relevance of nuclear weapons in deterring such potential adversaries.

``The fact that some elements (of the U.S. government) may appear to be potentially 'out of control' can be beneficial to creating and reinforcing fears and doubts within the minds of an adversary's decision makers,'' it says. ``That the U.S. may become irrational and vindictive if its vital interests are attacked should be a part of the national persona we project to all adversaries.''

In 1997, two years after STRATCOM advanced its latter-day version of this theory, President Clinton approved a directive that preserved the role of nuclear weapons as a deterrent against attacks involving weapons of mass destruction launched by rogue states.

The policy upheld the ``negative security assurance'' that the United States will refrain from first use of nuclear weapons against signatories to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a list that includes Iraq, Iran, Libya and North Korea. But it includes exceptions that presidential adviser Robert Bell said have been ``refined'' in recent years.

The exceptions would allow a nuclear response to attacks by nuclear-capable states, countries that are not in good standing under the Non-Proliferation Treaty or states allied with nuclear powers. Iraq, which the United States regards as violating international atomic weapons restrictions, could be one such exception.

© Copyright 1998 The Associated Press

[Sintesi di Marco Capra - Comitato Golfo]