Bush Administration Drop Bunker Buster Plan

[kerrygoddess]

Bush Administration Drop Bunker Buster Plan
October 26th, 2005

One small victory in the nuclear nonproliferation fight…

The Bush administration has abandoned research into a nuclear “bunker-buster” warhead, deciding instead to pursue a similar device using conventional weaponry, a key Republican senator said Tuesday.

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said funding for the nuclear bunker-buster as part of the Energy Department’s fiscal 2006 budget has been dropped at the department’s request.

The nuclear bunker-buster had been the focus of intense debate in Congress, with opponents arguing that its development as a tactical nuclear weapon could add to nuclear proliferation.

An administration official, speaking on condition on anonymity because negotiations on the department’s spending bill have not yet been completed, confirmed that a decision had been made to concentrate on a nonnuclear bunker-buster.

MORE & LINKS - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=947

[wakeme2008]

1. IS it only me... OR

Do some Repugs in Congress and other places now believe that Trigger Happy Bush would use a small nuc if he had one... :grr:

[Kolesar]

2. We lobbied our gopuke congressman and he said no to bunker-busters

One of my friends actually met with him. Saturday, she and I are going to canvas for election reform in Ohio to redistrict him out of office. :)

[No Exit]

3. Yeah. It's Pat Fitzgerald who's got the "bunker busters" now. n/t

[Silverhair]

4. A couple of years ago, Scientific American had an article about them.

Basically, the article showed that they would not be that effective at the lower yields, and at the higher yeilds they would no longer be considered "tactical". The politcal price to be paid for being the first to actually use nukes (Not counting WWII) would be so extremely high that the short term gain just would not be worth it.

Conventional devices can do just a good a job, only you need a few more of them.