US wants mini-nukes for smaller aggressors

[Whoa_Nelly]

US wants mini-nukes for smaller aggressors
Washington
October 27, 2003


Influential advisers at the Pentagon are backing the development of a new generation of low-yield nuclear weapons - so-called "mini-nukes" - in a controversial report to be published this autumn.

The document, Future Strategic Strike Force, has been produced by the Defence Science Board, which has a Pentagon brief to "transform the nation's armed forces to meet the demands placed on them by a changing world order".

The board's findings envisage a revamped nuclear arsenal made up of small-scale missiles whose explosive impact would be easier to control and could be targeted at smaller aggressive states.

<snip>
The document is believed to have the strong backing of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who last week called for a "bolder" approach to national security in a leaked Pentagon memo. A month ago, the Senate eased restrictions on nuclear tests at the military's Nevada site, where no new test has taken place since 1992.

more...
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/26/1067103266509.html

[kalian]

1. I don't get it....

The majority of potential future targets will continue to be third
world rate countries that are sitting on oil reserves. Now...HOW in
the world can "mini-nukes" play such a role? :wtf:
Seriously. I mean, look at what happened in Iraq...we steamrolled over
their sorry asses. Would we have used nukes then? DID we use nukes
then (please...no depleted uranium topics here...)?

Now...if we were up against the Chinese or the Russians or some other
nuke possessing country, then it would be an entirely different
matter...or maybe a country that could actually DEFEND itseld.

I still don't understand this "mini-nuke" woodie that the administration is looking for... Baffling.

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. I think this is what they're after

...and,IMHO,I think Rummy thinks the BFEE War Machine will still be in full and active mode after November 2004.

Posted on Tue, Apr. 22, 2003

Administration moves ahead on nuclear `bunker busters'
By Dan Stober
Mercury News


Demonstrating a significant shift in America's nuclear strategy, the Bush administration intends to produce -- not just research -- a thermonuclear bunker-busting bomb to destroy hardened, deeply buried targets, the Pentagon has acknowledged for the first time.

The weapon -- known as the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator -- would be a full-power hydrogen bomb that would throw up enormous clouds of radioactive dust while wreaking large-scale damage and death if used in an urban area. It would be thousands of times more powerful than the conventional ``bunker busters'' dropped on Baghdad in an attempt to kill former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Federal officials signed documents in Washington this week to launch a preliminary design contest between Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Because of the lead time needed for congressional funding, officials at the National Nuclear Security Administration say, they might seek additional money for the next phase of development even before the preliminary work is completed in 2005 or 2006.

more...
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/5695249.htm

[mmm]

3. A money-sucking inhumane boondogle:

Avatar for The New America

[ProudGerman]

6. Its not a mini nuke woodie

It's a plain old nuke woodie. This administration, and especially Rumsfeld, have been wanting to vaporize a city or two since they came to power. These sick fuckers can't wait to drop a nuke on someone, just thinking about it gets them all hot and bothered. The mini nukes just appear to be the only way they'll get there chance.

These whackos are just itching to see a mushroom cloud on CNN.

[Ratty]

4. Yet another squandered opportunity

Didn't Reagan himself often say he dreamed of a world without nuclear weapons? This administration is presented yet again with a golden opportunity that they will waste and corrupt, just like 9/11. In this new terrorist world ridding the planet of nuclear weapons should be our FIRST priority.

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. Wouldn't that be an impossible task?

With the knowledge available and the mining of uranium active, how can nuclear weaponry ever be completely destroyed? International pacts can eist, but that wouldn't stop anyone from obtaining and producing nuclear weapons, IMHO.

[Ratty]

7. But terrorists

The fear is that terrorists would get their nukes from nations, especially those that need currency, like North Korea and Russia. It takes the resources of a nation to build a nuke, I just don't think any terrorist organization could do it themselves. Now how on earth are we going to convince North Korea, Pakistan and India to destroy their nuclear programs if we aren't setting some kind of reasonable example? The real danger with these mininukes is that there is a mindset that they are useable where conventional nukes are not. If these countries become convinced we would use these on a preemptive basis they are much, much less likely to consider abandoning their only bargaining chip.

The dream of no nukes on earth is a long way off, but working to keep them in as few hands as possible is a worthy goal. The first step is making these developing countries feel secure enough to destroy them.

[DrWeird]

8. Wtf? He's worried about evil-doing gnomes now?

nt

[rocktivity]

9. He small! He's cute! He won't blow up the world!

http://www.markfiore.com/animation/buster.html


rocknation

[arwalden]

10. WAKE UP AMERICA!!!

Wake up! Wake Up! Wake UP! WAKE UP!!!!

[MrPrax]

11. This Idea Has Been Brewing For Awhile...

Wonder what the reaction of the world community might be with the first detonation?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

12. Old news. Read the linked article from 02-04-2003...

"US Testing Use of 'Small Nukes' against Iraq"
Originally Published in the Times of India, 4 February 2003
<http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/VAR302A.html>

"The Bush administration is actively researching the implications of a nuclear attack on deep underground bunkers using computers to test the 'kill and spill' levels of bunker-busting 'small' nuclear weapons.

The program details of which were reported in the Los Angeles Times on Monday provides further evidence that the US is seriously contemplating the use of nucle ar weapons against Iraq, and possibly other potential adversaries such as North Korea. According to the LAT, the Pentagon 'has launched a fast-track program to develop computers that would help decide when nuclear weapons might be used to destroy underground bunkers harbouring weapons of mass destruction'."