WASHINGTON - Pressure increased on President George Bush to act on global warming after 11 former US military leaders warned that climate change could trigger security threats to the US military.
In a report released on Monday, the former generals warned that weak governments could fall following increasing water and food shortages caused by global warming. This would pull US troops into such flash points as a part of humanitarian missions to those regions.
They added that the melting of Arctic ice would lead to sea water becoming less salty and thereby affecting the workings of sonar used by American submarines in the sea. The report was published by CNA Corporation, a Virginia-based think-tank.
"We can't wait until we have absolute certainty. We know that we never have 100 percent certainty and if we wait, we might wait too long", said Gen. Gordon Sullivan, who is a former US Army chief of staff.
President Bush has rejected appeals from various quarters to take a tough stand against rising global temperatures and has refused to join an international community group to curb rising greenhouse gas emissions.
The report predicts that water resources will be the main bone of contention between countries and the subsequent chaos that occurs will boost "civil strife, genocide and the growth of terrorism". On Bush's claim that cutting down on gas emissions would destroy the country's economy Gen Anthony Zinni, a former commander of US Central Command, said that US will have to pay for it in one way or the other.
"We will pay for this one way or another. We will pay to reduce greenhouse gas emissions today, and we'll have to take an economic hit of some kind. Or we will pay the price later in military terms. And that will involve human lives. There will be a human toll", he said.
