DoD approves sale of bunker buster missiles to Israel

The Jerusalem Post ^ | September 14, 2008 | YAAKOV KATZ

[Free ThinkerNY]

The US Department of Defense has notified Congress of a potential sale of 1,000 smart bombs capable of penetrating underground bunkers to Israel, which would likely be used in the event of a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.

The notification of the possible sale to Congress was made over the weekend by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the branch of the Pentagon responsible for evaluating foreign military sales.

Congress has 30 days to object the deal.

The deal is valued at $77 million and the principal contractor will be Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. The bomb which Israel has asked to procure is called the GBU-39, developed in recent years by the US as a small diameter bomb for low-cost, high-precision and low-collateral damage strikes.

In addition to the bomb, Israel has also asked for 150 mounting carriages, 30 guided test vehicles as well as two instructors to train the Israeli Air Force how to load the missiles on its aircraft.

[al baby]

Hell Yes. I wonder what those are for?

[Bosco]

I think the closest stock of the weaponry is in Iraq. Someone call the Israelis and tell them we can drop ship to the intended destination for them if they’d like.

[chaos_5]

haha, so long Iranian centrifuges.

[hershey]

About time.

[grey_whiskers]

Georgia. Then with Israel's auxiliary bases secured, Iran.

Cheers!

[samtheman]

Yes. Yes. Yes. And: yes.

[al baby]

Drop Ship

LMAOROTF

[ricks_place]

Why does Israel need Bunker Busters?

• North - Hezbollah tunnels.
• South - Hamas tunnels.
• East - Iranian Nuclear weapons tunnels.
• West - Bikinis on the Mediterranean...oops, bunker buster not needed.

[BenLurkin]

November 5th.

[shalom aleichem]

1. Congress has 30 days to object? Is that enough time for Boma to do so with all his “uh’s” and “ah’s”?

2. This all should be classified

[diverteach]

They come with a “best used by” stamp.

Best used on or before Jan. 19, 2009 but not before Nov. 4, 2008

[ought-six]

I don’t know, folks, but it seems like it’s pretty late in the game for them to be making this order, not to mention having to run it by Congress, which, with the Dims in control, may very well kill the sale. Iran will probably have a nuke by early 2009, which is only a few months away.

Unfortunately, I thnk the West is going to have to accept a nuclear-armed Iran, with all the threats and horrors that entails. There is only one country that has the will to strike Iran’s nuke program, and that is Israel. I just think Israel is cutting it pretty close if it still does not have the weapons systems it needs to do the job properly, and the Boeing machinists are on strike, and Boeing will have to outsource some of the work, and Congress may stall, and Obambi may be elected president....
You get the picture.

[umgud]

Obama to vote “Not Present.”

[TomasUSMC]

we can drop ship to the intended destination for them if they’d like.
////////////
nice

[TomasUSMC]

give iran NUKES

BEFORE they give them to US

[ajwharton]

I don’t know, folks, but it seems like it’s pretty late in the game for them to be making this order, not to mention having to run it by Congress, which, with the Dims in control, may very well kill the sale. Iran will probably have a nuke by early 2009, which is only a few months away.

Don't worry. This is just to replenish the stock that they are about to use...

And it isn't a coincidence that this is released to the media. COINTEL is a tricky, tricky business.

[SJackson]

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[bajabaja]

2. This all should be classified

Iran needs to know this. Its generals may not all be as blustery and deluded as some of its political leadership. Ask their Admirals what happened to the Iranian Navy a while back.

The classified (and hence not reported to the news media) sales/transfers to Israel go on as well. Congress just gets a 'sealed notification' not a public one.

I think Richard Nixon got it right in 1973 when he said we should go all in to help Israel because whatever amount of support, from minor to major, will draw the same reaction from Muslims/Arabs.

This is a slightly different situation, I will admit, as Iranians are Muslim but not Arab. And several Arab states would quietly approve of Iran being denuked. Publicly, in the name of Muslim solidarity, the response would be different.

I am more hopeful about a good outcome here than many here on FR. I am more worried about Olmert's possible indictment , not that he doesn't deserve it, but that this is not the time for such a distraction. There is somewhat more at stake.

[Joe Boucher]

hope Israel drops 999 of them on valuable iranian targets