Carnal Reason

Source: The Register

US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday asked Congress to agree $8.5m of funding for research into a ground-penetrating nuclear weapon which would address what Rumsfeld considers the growing problem of potential enemies burying vital installations deep underground. … Rumsfeld was at pains to point out that Pentagon wants the cash purely for research - not to build an actual weapon. He said: “The only thing we have is very large, very dirty, big nuclear weapons,” adding: “It seems to me studying it [the RNEP] makes all the sense in the world.”

California Democratic Senator, Dianne Feinstein, countered: “It is beyond me as to why you’re proceeding with this program when the laws of physics won’t allow a missile to be driven deeply enough to prevent deadly radioactive fallout from spewing into the air after a nuclear detonation.”

The senator admits ignorance, and then misses an excellent opportunity to stop talking.

The purpose of the weapon is to destroy buried bunkers; minimizing fallout is a secondary concern. If the senator proposes that the US limit its arsenal to fallout-free weapons, she is proposing unilateral nuclear disarmament. If that is her intent, she should say so.

Posted on April 28th, 2005 by pwyll
Filed under: politics