You don’t just go out one morning and crank up a nuclear bomb. This has been in the works for years, and any number of Congresses and Administrations could have destroyed this program and chose not to pay the tought price.
My gut reaction: They either wanted this or they didn’t care if it happened. If they’d cared, there was plenty of time to stop it.
Yep. There has to be a bad guy. The pirates weren’t scary enough.