New Navy Leader: Nukes 'Foundational To Our Survival'

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

By Robert Burns, The Associated Press 3:01 p.m. EST January 5, 2016
John Richardson

(Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
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WASHINGTON — In his blueprint for a stronger Navy, the sea service's new top boss, Adm. John M. Richardson, is blunt about what he thinks matters most: nuclear punch.

Battling terrorists is today's problem, but in looking toward a farther horizon, Richardson wants a Navy built to counter unpredictable future threats from other countries. No. 1 on his list is a new fleet of nuclear-armed submarines, known as "boomers," that prowl the oceans as the quiet centerpiece of the nation's nuclear force. The Navy plans to replace the current fleet of 14 Ohio-class boomers, which began service as early as 1981, with 12 next-generation subs.

"This is foundational to our survival as a nation," Richardson writes in what he calls his design for the future, released Tuesday.

It also is a gigantic investment, estimated at $100 billion. Even one of the project's biggest supporters, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., calls the cost "staggering." And it happens to be just one of three efforts by the Pentagon to modernize the U.S. nuclear "triad" — new long-range bomber aircraft, new or upgraded land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles and new missile-toting submarines. The price tag for these, plus related upgrades and replacements, is likely to approach $348 billion by 2024, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Read more: http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/pentagon/2016/01/05/new-navy-leader-nukes-foundational-to-our-survival/78313294/

[7wo7rees]

1. Ummm, no they are not! Asshole! They are ruinous to the

survival of our species. You demented fuck!

[Judi Lynn]

2. You speak for so many of us, without a doubt. n/t

[7wo7rees]

3. As do you!! So glad you agree with us

You are #1 when it comes to all things south of the border!!

[trillion]

6. +100000000000000000000000000000000

[Odin2005]

23. Why do you think there has not been a 3rd world war?

Because all the great powers know that such a war would turn nuclear. MAD is the best peacekeeper in the world.

[MADem]

4. Well, maybe he needs to worry first about finding guys who can drive those things without

running 'em aground....


http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/01/05/navy-captain-relieved-duty.html

This isn't really LBN, though. I won't alert but maybe you should self delete and put it in GD or the National Security group.

[Unknown Beatle]

5. $348 billion to the Pentagon with taxpayer dollars

but nothing to relieve the homeless problem or feeding hungry children.

The Pentagon is missing (steals) $8.5 trillion and they still want more of our money to build their war toys.

[Sherman A1]

7. I must disagree

if he missed that flexibility is the center piece of the Navy's mission and it's survival, then he is yet another who has the all answers, but seems to have missed the question.

In the short term perhaps these submarines may be necessary, but we ultimately need to eliminate all nuclear weapons.

[TipTok]

11. That is way way way in the future...

Hundreds of years ...

[Sherman A1]

14. I would hope not

and I do not necessarily agree that it is that far into the future.

[TipTok]

15. Worldwide nuclear dearmament?

We haven't scratched the surface...

To say nothing of getting down into the bedrock...

[Gregorian]

8. THIS IS WHY ISIS HATE US; POOR HEALTH CARE; POOR SCHOOLS; POOR INFRASTRUCTURE...

Get rid of these men and America will begin to heal.

This notion of safety is utter bullshit. It's hype to keep you giving them a quarter of your paycheck.

[Gregorian]

9. I would rather die unarmed and happy than armed and "safe".

These pentagon shitheads are ruining your life, in case you didn't know.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

10. And I thought it was - AIR - WATER -FOOD

he can have his bomb - I want Clean air and water and much much better food

[SammyWinstonJack]

13. Because of his boomers, there's no funds for any of those luxuries.

[FairWinds]

12. Veterans For Peace shares . .

the skepticism expressed here.

This summer our own navy (the feisty little Golden Rule)
will be standing up against nuclear weapons in the
Pacific Northwest.

http://www.vfpgoldenruleproject.org/

And we are looking for crew !!

[Nihil]

16. An appropriate place to post this ...

XKCD cracks it

[libdem4life]

17. Seems we're not the only nation who feels fear and need nukes. Funny how that works. In fact, we

might consider nuking countries who are equally fearful.

[duplex]

18. sad

I grew up in a town called Cheyenne, which houses a main component of the US nuclear missile command. I (along with my friends) all assumed we would die in a nuclear war before ever growing up due to all the rhetoric and fear that this part of the cold war brought. It's shameful that we still cower underneath this deadly umbrella that offers not defense but the destruction of all that we hold dear. It's too late to put this genie back in the bottle, but what a horrible legacy we leave to our children by perpetuating it.

[PFunk1]

19. To be polite. He's an idiot.

Nukes may have been a combat necessary when their were a few of them (like say late 40's early 50). But deploying nukes (or any sort of major NBC weaponry) now of today's battlefield means the side that first does so basically has lost the war.

Just my opinion. Take is as you may.

[groundloop]

20. Think of all the Healthcare, Education, and Shelter for the Poor that $348 BILLION could buy

It's a fucking crime to keep pouring money into the military industrial complex out of these misplaced fears and the fear-mongering by assholes such as Adm. Richardson. Our money would be so much better spent improving the lives of our citizens on things such as food and shelter for the needy, better K-12 education, lower/free college tuition, and of course healthcare for all.

[rafeh1]

21. actually in todays world

power comes from 3 things.
1. economy
2. economy
3. economy

If the econmoy is trash the world will pass by you. If the economy is good then it pays for all sort of toys

[Odin2005]

22. Nukes are the ONLY reason there has not been a World War III.

The naive anti-nuke people seem to not understand this, are in denial about it, or are too blinded by their own ideology to care.