Israel has sub-launched, nuclear-tipped cruise missiles

[oxycontinrush]

Israel Can Launch Nuclear Weapons from Subs -Report
Sat Oct 11, 1:53 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and Israeli officials say Israel has modified U.S.-made Harpoon cruise missiles so it can launch nuclear warheads from submarines, the Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday.


The State Department and Pentagon (news - web sites) declined to comment on the report, as did an Israeli military spokesman, in line with that nation's policy of refusing to say if it has nuclear weapons...."

"...The newspaper said two U.S. administration officials described the Israeli modifications and an Israeli official confirmed it. All three asked not to be identified.

According to the U.S. officials, Israel modified nuclear warheads to fit the widely used Harpoon cruise missile. They would be carried on three diesel-powered submarines delivered by a German builder at the end of the last decade.

An Israel Navy Web site said the submarines carry Harpoon missile but does not give details on the warheads.

Deployed by the U.S. Navy (news - web sites) since 1977, the Harpoon is in the arsenal of 28 nations. Israel has 120 Harpoons capable of submarine launch, according to various researchers. That version is 15 feet long and weighs 1,500 pounds with a range of 70 miles or more. It can carry a 488-pound warhead...."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=574&e=5&u=/nm/20031011/wl_nm/arms_israel_nuclear_dc_1

Great... Nuclear cruise missiles are in violation of every arms control agreement on the face of the Earth. They are a FIRST STRIKE WEAPON!

(on edit) Neither the US or the countries of the former Soviet Union has nuclear cruise missiles. They were outlawed in the SALT II treaties.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. we have small arms races now

all over the place

India and Pakistan

Israel and the Middle East

Russia and the US (Mini nukes)

China with whoever wants to play...

and oh yes Korea...

Now back in 2000 we were at peace, no enemies...
ah the bush legacy a new arms race.


We all know how the last one ended, with the USSR
desintegrating, anybody cares to posit any wagers?

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

2. Sanctions!!! let's take over their country if they don't disarm

is there any oil in Israel?

[oxycontinrush]

3. This is "Tom Clancy-esque destabilize-the-world" stuff.

Israel now has the ability to take out any coastal cities all over the most of the world with nukes without warning.

Anywhere within the range of those subs is now a potential Israeli target. These nuke-armed cruise missiles would not be picked up by NORAD. They fly nape of the earth. They would just nuke a city and nobody would know how the city became a glowing crater.

People would start pointing fingers at each other. ICBMs would get launched as people denied responsibility or assumed others responsible wrongly.

Hell, even a working Star Wars system wouldn't protect us from this.

I don't know any other way to put this... those 3 subs either need to be immediately disassembled in front of UN weapons inspectors or they need to be SUNK.

This is the very definition of when a nation can strike against another nation in self defense.

[Oilwellian]

7. Would you believe...

there are a few Nostradamus quatrains that speak of a submarine that fires missiles on cities. He even named the Ionian Sea as the place it will be hiding. I've often thought of those quatrains because it struck me, how would nations respond if attacked by a sub? How would we know which country was responsible for a nuclear attack if the missiles weren't launched from land? It's a frightening scenario...particularly with the Bush Crime Family calling the shots.

[oxycontinrush]

11. Normal Sub nukes still have ballistic trajectory

Any normal missile that goes more that a few miles goes sub-orbital when it launches. Even the V-2 (German WWII) went sub-orbital. Missiles with balistic trajectories can be tracked from their launching source by radar. We may not be able to stop a ballistic missile, but we would know where it was launched from. That would set the bullseye for return strikes squarely on the party that launched them. The ability for a nation to accurately counterattack those responsible for a first nuclear strike was the reason the world basically stayed alive diring the Cold War.

Harpoon nukes cannot be tracked by NORAD (or the Russian equivalent). They throw the whole balance of mutually-assured destruction out the window. They are designed to be used as a stealth platform for the delivery of nuclear weapons.

The Cold War was nuts, but not THIS kind of nuts.

[Terwilliger]

4. Israel HAS fired?

or CAN fire?

[oxycontinrush]

5. Can fire

Did I somehow make it seem they had fired nukes? My bad if I did.

[rocketdem]

6. a safe and secure middle east

Isn't that the goal?

How on earth can we as a nation support this development? I don't understand.

[Flying_Pig]

8. YaY! War! War! Kill! Kill! Go Israel!

PNAC and Sharon are celebrating. Wonder where they'll fire the first missle?

War-mongering bastards! :grr:

[DeathvadeR]

9. .

Until the philosophy which hold one race superior
And another
Inferior
Is finally
And permanently
Discredited
And abandoned -
Everywhere is war -
Me say war.

That until there no longer
First class and second class citizens of any nation
Until the colour of a man's skin
Is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes -
Me say war.

That until the basic human rights
Are equally guaranteed to all,
Without regard to race -
Dis a war.

That until that day
The dream of lasting peace,
World citizenship
Rule of international morality
Will remain in but a fleeting illusion to be pursued,
But never attained -
Now everywhere is war - war.

And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes
That hold our brothers in Angola,
In Mozambique,
South Africa
Sub - human bondage
Have been toppled,
Utterly destroyed -
Well, everywhere is war -
Me say war.

War in the east,
War in the west,
War up north,
War down south -
War - war -
Rumours of war.
And until that day,
The African continent
Will not know peace,
We Africans will fight - we find it necessary -
And we know we shall win
As we are confident
In the victory

Of good over evil -
Good over evil, yeah!
Good over evil -
Good over evil, yeah!
Good over evil -
Good over evil, yeah!


-War by Bob

[TahitiNut]

10. duplicate

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=161430