Posted on 02/01/2005 5:45:46 PM PST by blam
Rumsfeld backs nuclear bunker bomb to hit Iran atom sites
By Francis Harris in Washington
(Filed: 02/02/2005)
The Pentagon wants to revive a controversial programme to build nuclear warheads capable of penetrating hardened underground targets such as Iran's covert nuclear facilities.
A leaked memo from Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, to the energy department proposed funding for the scheme to begin next year. "You can count on my support for your efforts to revitalise the nuclear weapons infrastructure and to complete the RNEP (robust nuclear earth penetrator) study," Mr Rumsfeld wrote in a memo seen by the Washington Post.
The leak seems certain to trigger a major row with Congress, which eliminated the scheme from the budget last year.
That decision was made at the behest of Republican legislators angered by estimates suggesting the programme would cost more than $500 million (£265 million). The Bush administration has long emphasised that the scheme is merely a question of research and that Congress would have to approve the production of such weapons.
Democrats too were outraged, arguing that programmes to improve nuclear weapons made their use more likely and undermined US efforts to halt the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in other countries. The Arms Control Association, a pressure group which has opposed the bunker-buster scheme, said: "The administration is missing a key opportunity to make good on the congressional decision last year... it sends the wrong signal to the international community on the US approach on non-proliferation."
The US military has been studying bunker-busting weapons with renewed vigour since the September 11 attacks.
Osama bin Laden is believed to favour underground caves as a hiding place and used the Tora Bora network in the mountains of Afghanistan when he fled US-led forces in late 2001.
At the time, the Americans used the so-called Daisy Cutter, at 15,000lb the world's largest conventional bomb but still a thousand time less powerful than the weapon used at Hiroshima.
That has turned military minds back to the nuclear options, not least because the American military may one day be asked to launch raids against Iranian facilities.
The Americans believe the Iranians are working on building nuclear warheads despite Teheran's denials. The Islamic regime is also working on medium-range missiles capable of reaching Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and US forces in the Middle East.
Other longer-range missiles capable of reaching Europe are also being developed, the Americans believe.
Rummy is the man for the job
You know..much of the stuff Tom Clancy wrote has come to pass..COuld we see the scene where the JDAM takes out the house of the Iranian cleric, live, on worldwife TV?..
Theoretically, yes.
We've been driving the Iranians crazy with all these head fakes. Fun to watch go ape over "UFOs".
IMHO, I think the ONLY reason we haven't done Iran yet, asidew froim the possibility that the peopel might rise up themselves first, is that we honestly haven't figured out if we should do Syria first..Easy aregument to make, given how the terrorists have a haven there, and cross at will into Iraq. If we took out Syria tomorrow, you have to figure the Iranians would go nuts..launch everything at Israel..therefore, the Israelis would go FIRST..
The argument that we shouldn't develop "usable" nukes because we might be tempted to use them goes all the way back to the anti-nuclear debates of the 1980s. It was wrong then, and hasn't improved any since. I disposed of this argument in my 1988 book A FIGHTING CHANCE - THE MORAL USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS. Unfortunately, long since out of print.
I would much prefer a leak to the appropriate intelligence structures so that the message is delivered without the PUBLIC involvement. That is why I am unhappy about this method of leaking - IMO it can ultimately work against the objective of permitting the leak in the first place.
I think the Syrians can be held off by some wet work by our pals the Kurds and whatever mischief that can be made in Lebanon. Remember, Syria is run by a dreary incomp who may get his throat cut eventually by a teed-off general.
I think we're treading quietly regarding Iran, making efforts to encourage the opposition and sow mucho doubt in their military and civilian leadership.
Heh! That wild and crazy guy, Donny Rumsfeld.
Go for it...Use it on NK.
And now that I think of it, how about those neutron thingys that Jimma' cancelled some 30 yars ago.
The neutron bomb wouldn't have been able to do anything to the bunkers.
My opinion on nuclear weapon production has always been that America has to do what America has to do, nomatter how unpleasant. If the production of certain types of powerful ballistic warheads will deter Iran from taking any rash, violent actions against America in the future than there is absolutely no reason that we should be hesitant to take such an action. From The Cold War battle against the Soviet Union to our current brinksmanship with the banana-brained dictator of North Korea, from Pres. John Kennedy to Pres. Ronald Reagan and beyond, Americas superior nuclear capabilities have been crucial to protecting our lives and interests from the attacks of governments with lesser nuclear capabilities and evil wills.
Yes, go for it Rumsfeld. It may be a grim reality, but we must meet it with all we've got for the safety of future generations to come. We will do what we have to do.
Side note: But Lord how I hate nukes. I sometimes curse the otherwise vastly beneficial scientific excellence of mankind for creating the bastard child of our good deeds, with the power to kill the entire world now in our own hands. Nukes are like a test God has given mankind so that we can finally figure out the wages of our inhumanity, which dates back to Cain and Able. Unlike liberals, however, my hatred of nuclear weapons is tempered by my realistic thought; we can't put the genie back in the bottle again, so the only way to protect ourself from that genie is to rub the lamp first, and hardest. May we never be forced to use nukes again, but may we be prepared to do so if absolutely necessary.
And, it might well be the threat of unrestrained destruction of their millitary capability that will break the backs of the world's last remaining a--holes, Iran and North Korea.
He can always say "Whoops! Shi'ite happens!" Nothing like a little turban renewal.
LOL!
Nuclear winter will also offset global warming...
>"Whoops! Shi'ite happens!" Nothing like a little turban renewal.<
LOL BIGTIME!!!
Rumsfeld is "The Turbanator"..
That's nearly as funny as your screen name. (:>)
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