US military chief warns of rogue missile attacks

Myers spoke behind closed doors to the Defence and Security Committee of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, meeting in Florida.

The media was barred from the speech but in a recording obtained by Reuters, Myers presented the threat from cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles as a hole in US and allied defenses that could be exploited by "non-state actors," which he did not further identify.

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"You don't hear about the cruise missile threat, but if you think about it, cruise missiles, can be made to have very low radar cross sections, so they're hard to see," said Myers.

"They fly typically low to the ground, they fly relatively fast and they carry significant warheads, especially if you think about biological weapons or radiological weapons or even conventional weapons, for that matter, and they can be launched from almost anything -- from the back of trucks," Myers said.

"I only hope that people realize that this is a real threat. Short-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, are prevalent in many countries," he said. "It won't be long before that threat is upon us."

Myers did not say what groups he meant when he spoke of "non-state actors" but he was believed to be referring to groups like al- Qaeda.

A spokesman for the general later told Reuters that Myers was not referring to any specific or imminent threat, and that the United States does not believe opposition forces in Iraq have access to cruise missiles.