When the U.S. aircraft carrier Harry S Truman left Norfolk, Virginia in early December, it carried at least a company of marines. What's unusual about that is that the navy stopped carrying marines on carriers and cruisers in the early 1990s. The marines had long been used as guards for things like nuclear weapons. But in the 1990s, American warships stopped carrying nukes. So the speculation is rife that the Truman, which is headed for the Persian Gulf, is carrying nuclear weapons. Iraq has been warned that any use of chemical or biological weapons would bring massive retaliation. Like nuclear weapons. Dropped from carrier aircraft. Nuclear weapons put aboard an aircraft carrier and guarded by marines.