WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- The U.S. Defense Department plans to expand its resources in the fight against terrorism, including increasing the Special Forces and creating a new unit for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) possessed by "rogue states" or terrorists, a strategy document released Friday said.

    Terming the anti-terrorism war as the military's first priority, the document, called the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), outlined broad plans to strengthen U.S. forces to defeat terrorist networks, boost homeland defense, increase deterrent capabilities and improve the nation's ability to deal with dangers posed by countries and terrorists that possess WMDs.

    The congressionally-mandated 2006 QDR, to be submitted to Congress next Monday, was unveiled by the Pentagon on Friday.

    To effectively fight the war on terrorism, the document said, the Pentagon will enhance its expeditionary combat power and shape the services to be lighter, more lethal, more sustainable and more agile.

    The Pentagon will increase Special Operations Forces by 15 percent and increase the number of Special Forces battalions by one-third, said the document, the third of its kind since Congress began requiring them.

    The document said the U.S. Special Operations Command will establish the Marine Corps Special Operations Command, the Air Force will create an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron under the command, and the Navy will augment SEAL teams under the same command and will develop a riverine warfare capability.

    The Defense Department "will also expand Psychological Operations and Civil Affairs units by 3,700 personnel, a 33 percent increase," the report said.

    The U.S. Strategic Command will take the lead in integrating and synchronizing operations against WMDs, and the Pentagon will also establish a deployable Joint Task Force headquarters for WMD elimination to be able to provide immediate command and control offorces for executing those missions, the strategy report said.

    Starting in the new fiscal year, the Pentagon will also fund a 1.5-billion-U.S.-dollar initiative over five years to develop "broad-spectrum medical countermeasures against the threat of genetically engineered bio-terror agents," according to the QDR.

    In addition, the department plans to develop a wider range of conventional options "while maintaining a robust nuclear deterrent," the report said.

    Drawing on lessons learned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the global war on terrorism, the review essentially moves the U.S. military's focus away from conventional warfare toward three new areas: irregular conflicts against insurgents and terrorists, defense against catastrophic attacks on the U.S. homeland with WMDs and deterrence of the rising military might of powers. Enditem