Text of a letter on the "nuclear option" to President George W. Bush from thirteen leading US physicists, including five Nobel Laureates, April 17, 2006 [urging that the US not consider using tactical nuclear weapons against Iran in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty after press articles reported the administration's willingness to consider nuclear strikes]. Excerpt:

Using or even merely threatening to use a nuclear weapon preemptively against a nonnuclear adversary tells the 182 non-nuclear-weapon countries signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that their adherence to the treaty offers them no protection against a nuclear attack by a nuclear nation. Many are thus likely to abandon the treaty, and the nuclear non-proliferation framework will be damaged even further than it already has, with disastrous consequences for the security of the United States and the world.

Read the full text of the letter [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.