http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=10742
Budget request revives US nuclear debate US DOD ISN SECURITY WATCH (09/02/05) - US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has revived a controversial study of a "bunker busting" nuclear warhead by incorporating it into the defense budget as a line item. Rumsfeld has urged that a study be undertaken to work on a hardened, earth penetrating shell for nuclear warheads called the "Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator", which could dig through rock and cement before exploding. Chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that deals with the country's US$6 billion nuclear program, David Hobson, said the item raised fundamental questions about the current levels of nuclear weapons, asking recently: "Why are we still preparing to fight the last war?" About US$16.8 million has already been spent on the study, which was cashiered last year, and an additional US$14 million is needed to complete the study by 2007. Democrats have been critical of that line item in the budget. Representative Ellen Tausher said the request was "a waste of money on a weapon commanders in the field have not asked for, is of highly questionable utility, and may trigger a new global nuclear arms race". The US is to reduce the number of nuclear warheads in its arsenal to around 2'000 under the terms of the Treaty of Moscow. Since the downsizing began in the 1990's, however, the role of nuclear weapons in the country's defense policy has become unclear. Under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, nuclear powers cannot use such weapons against non-nuclear signatories, such as Iran. But the US Defense Department has indicated that despite the treaty, concerns about Iran's nuclear program provide the main impetus behind the bunker buster research, arguing that countries like North Korea and Iran - which are suspected of pursuing nuclear weapons programs - are protecting their key military assets in fortified underground bunkers. In addition, the use of a bunker-busting weapon would entail contaminating an area and making it a no-go zone for people. Hobson said until a there was a real debate and a comprehensive plan was developed, the appropriations subcommittee would be left arguing over isolated projects without an overriding strategic concept. Still, some observers believe that Hobson has softened his tone recently. Only last month, he had called Bush's nuclear weapons research initiatives "unwise and unnecessary", as well as sending the "wrong signal" to countries such as North Korea and Iran. In a commentary in the Washington Times last month, Hobson said: "When we want countries such as Iran and North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons development, it is hypocritical for the United States to embark on new weapons and testing initiatives." However, on Thursday, his statements indicated that he was now willing to consider the bunker buster initiative. (By Ustina Markus in Washington, DC) ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
