Posted on 10/29/2001 1:14:44 AM PST by ipaq2000
Local news web site in Hebrew reports minute ago:. Israeli Special Forces arrested terrorists carrying a radioactive bomb on the Jordanian border, no further details yet.
I will post more info soon.
If we nuked their nukes, would their nukes go critical and cause secondary nuclear explosions, or would they just be vaporized?
If it looked like the mobs were going to get the Paki nukes, would be just be safer if we nuked them first? Do you think we are prepared to nuke the middle East if they set off a nuke in the US?
Who would we nuke first, second, third, etc? Who would we leave? What would this do to the oil supply and prices?
If that doesn't work, which it may not -- now that we lost the element of surprise, we would have to pull out of the area and consider a pre-emptive strike against Pakistan to protect ourselves and India. That may involve nukes to ensure they can't respond.
Israel may of course jump in at any time if they are then threatened by Iraq or Egypt, and since they likely have the best tactical nukes (neutron bombs) oil fields in Iraq for instance would be preserved for later use. They might even resort to The Samson Option
Nuking nukes wouldn't cause them to go off as far as I know.
I've got a better idea. Keeping with the spirit of our repeated "accidental" bombings of the taliban supply warehouses - cum - "Red Cross Centers", we send in a wave of Tomahawk cruise missiles targetted at some talibastard facilities. One of the Tomahawks has a nuclear weapon at its payload.
When the dust settles, we dust off our Standard Apology for Military Mishaps form, and fill in the "explanation" line with something like, "Due to enemy's refusal to accept our reasonable terms for peace, we have been forced to dip into our inventory of nuclear tipped cruise missiles, and exchange the payloads for conventional weapons charges. Somehow this one slipped throught the cracks. We're really sorry and all, etc., and we hope that the enemy will accept our reasonable terms for peace before we have another tragic accident. You know how things always seem to 'just happen', etc."
Don't be silly, of course we're prepared to react in like kind.
Unless, of course, it would offend them.
Um... I just remembered -- it would offend them, dang.
Forget I said anything, OK?
This is the first I've heard of any major nuclear power having a radiological bomb. Everything I've seen published to date has said that such "dirty bombs" were the exclusive province of third world countries, terrorist organizations, and "lone wolf" terrorists. In other words, the threat of radiological bombs was soley from those who did not have the ability to create a fission weapon.
Now, I am weighing the years of news that said the above on the one hand, against this one report of a Russian-built radiological bomb on the other hand, and it's coming up short.
So, if I look at the current report, I can see a small number of possibilities:
1. The story is as-related; it's true; the Russians created radiological bombs, and no one knew about them, and now, at least one has gotten into the hands of a terrorist.
2. The story has been changed to protect someone, most likely a source -- the bomb is as-described, but it is not from the Russians.
3. The story has been changed, for the purpose of messing with the enemy. IOW, it's agitprop. Either nothing of the sort happened, or the person was caught with something other than what he was described has having.
4. The story has been changed, in order to protect the tender sensibilities of the West, and in order to "maintain the balance of [insert factor here]" -- the person was captured with a Russian backpack fusion bomb, of the type that has been alluded to in the media for several years.
IMO, #1 is the least likely, and #4 is the most likely. #2 & #3 are tossups, but of less probability than #4, and greater probability than #1.
Two cents, do with them as you like.
The world has become so strange. Where oh where has common sense and the urge to survive gone? Does appeasement ever, EVER work? I don't think so.
Would that be surprising?
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