We came so close to World War Three that day (More Info)

The Spectator ^ | October 3, 2007 | James Forsyth and Douglas Davis

[Spktyr]

If they used a small tacnuke set to ground burst, the EMP wouldn’t even be that large, nor would there have been that many large scale effects. Seismographs would “see” an event comparable to a large conventional explosion.

FYI, there have been at least two nuclear weapons used in combat since WW2. During the Sino-Soviet border wars (WW2-1993) had two events recorded on seismographs in the West that could only have been large tactical nukes or small strategic ones.

Nobody’s talking about that.

[null and void]

If NK actually double-crossed Syria, they’ll never get another drop of oil from Iran or Syria, so whatever they received from Israel/US/South Korea/etc. would need to be tremendous.

We've agreed to send NK so much oil that we also 'had' to agree to build more storage tanks for it.

[CougarGA7]

Thanks txflake. I’ll go over to globalsecurity and find where that is.

[Kozak]

How does one “destroy” nuclear material with an air strike?
At best you can scatter it around. But it’s still enriched uranium or plutonium. I would think the Israeli’s would need their commando’s to go in and retrieve the stuff.

[Convert from ECUSA]

Check this out (more on the 9/6/07 strike into Syria)!

[Dog]

Even more curious is that far from pushing the Syrians and Israelis to war, both seem determined to put a lid on the affair.

Talk about setting off my radar....

[RightWhale]

The smart bombs are being configured to land at the tunnel entrances just after the cruise missiles blow the blast doors open and clear the tunnels, whereupon they will walk in until they reach the centrifuge rooms, whereupon they will not explode (they are smarter than that) but will disassemble the first centrifuge stages and the centrifuge room will fill with uranium gas so no one will be able to go in for 10,000 years. Smart bombs, of course don’t have to breathe and won’t be affected by the uranium gas. After that mission is complete they will go downtown in Tehran and declare themselves the new Junta and wait for the civilian administrators from Paris to show up.

[antiRepublicrat]

I find it hard to believe that any bombing of such material would NOT result in some kind of release. Unless of course it’s solidly buried now.

It would be released, but it's hard to detect it from a distance (inverse square applies) except for any radiation that was carried up on the smoke.

[DrGunsforHands]

Sure, it won’t fission, but it will get blown to smithereens if you hit it with a big enough explosive. The facility is now said to be a huge hole in the desert. I’m thinking they used either the MOAB, or the MOP(Massive Ordnance Penetrator), or perhaps both.

[null and void]

The facility was right on the Euphrates, so if it’s rained there since, you should be able to get readings all the way down to Iraq.

If the levels are too low to glow, no one without instruments will know. Anyone with instruments will probably not be in a position to disclose the information...

[null and void]

When I saw this on the History Channel the other day it completely freaked me out. How different my childhood would have been.....

Shorter, too...

[Dog]

That was confirmed to The Spectator by a very senior British ministerial source: ‘If people had known how close we came to world war three that day there’d have been mass panic. Never mind the floods or foot-and-mouth — Gordon really would have been dealing with the bloody Book of Revelation and Armageddon.’

Guennie I need a big favor....what is in the Book of Revelation....you are more up on it than I.

[antiRepublicrat]

Exactly - and if the much-vaunted SA-23 system couldn’t see or shoot it down, what does *that* say?

a. The system sucks.
b. The operators are poorly-trained morons
c. Both of the above.

I vote c, leaning more towards poorly-trained morons.

[Mr. Jeeves]

How does one “destroy” nuclear material with an air strike?

See post #57. You render it unreachable by humans.

[ConservatismNow]

Somebody set us up the bomb, bert

[biggerten]

F117’s and B-2’s have stealth capability, but only the US has them.

Speculation can lead to madness, but could the Israeli’s be providing cover for a covert US mission?

Or maybe a joint mission, Israeli commandos supported by US airpower?

It’s probably not, but who can say, except those who know? And those who know can’t say.

[null and void]

I don’t think conventional explosives capable of vaporizing uranium or plutonium. The masses are so dense, I can’t believe it would not remain intact.

They can burn. Think of a magnesium fire with lethal smoke. The only 'good' thing is the oxides are so heavy that they rapidly settle out.

[DejaJude]

“The technology allows users to invade communications networks, see what enemy sensors see, and even take over as systems administrator so sensors can be manipulated into positions so that approaching aircraft can’t be seen,” Aviation Week explains. “The process involves locating enemy emitters with great precision and then directing data streams into them that can include false targets and misleading message algorithms.”

Wow. This almost sounds like they could get them to bomb themselves.

[SampleMan]

That’s not stealth, that’s jamming.

No. Jamming is evident to the radar operator.

Have you ever had a physics lab where sound was made completely inaudible by the application of more sound waves? If not it is quite impressive. Now is the original noise silent? Yes and No, the sound waves are still there, but unlike just making a loud racket (jamming), they are completely undetectable to the receiver. The ear drum goes in and just stays there. You can still hear, just not the noise that is being canceled.

[MrB]

The ‘rats knew about the threat Saddam posed, yet still went on the floor of the Senate and stated the opposite.