Trump review leans toward proposing mini-nuke

[DonViejo]

Source: Politico




It would be a major reversal from the Obama administration, which sought to limit reliance on nuclear arms.

By BRYAN BENDER 09/09/2017 07:33 AM EDT

The Trump administration is considering proposing smaller, more tactical nuclear weapons that would cause less damage than traditional thermonuclear bombs — a move that would give military commanders more options but could also make the use of atomic arms more likely.

A high-level panel created by President Donald Trump to evaluate the nuclear arsenal is reviewing various options for adding a more modern "low-yield" bomb, according to sources involved in the review, to further deter Russia, North Korea or other potential nuclear adversaries.

Approval of such weapons — whether designed to be delivered by missile, aircraft or special forces — would mark a major reversal from the Obama administration, which sought to limit reliance on nuclear arms and prohibited any new weapons or military capabilities. And critics say it would only make the actual use of atomic arms more likely.

"This capability is very warranted," said one government official familiar with the deliberations who was not authorized to speak publicly about the yearlong Nuclear Posture Review, which Trump established by executive order his first week in office.




Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/09/trump-reviews-mini-nuke-242513

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

1. I don't care if we can scale it down to the power of a cherry bomb.

Whatever the power, the next to set off a nuke in battle crosses a line, unleashes a fury that will be devastating.

The smaller the nuke, the more tempting it is to use it.

This is one scary president.

[uppityperson]

3. ++++++++

[brush]

29. That's right. Get him out. If he thinks Russia and China are going to sit back...

and just watch us nuke a neighboring country, he's nuts.

Well...we know he's nuts.

Kim is nuts and will retaliate along with whatever Russia and China do.

It is definitely time for trump to go.

[nycbos]

2. The whole point of The Doomsday Machine is lost if you keep it a secret.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. That would invite similar R&D in other countries which would either:

A) use those weapons in defense of the U.S. using them,
B) use those weapons preliminarily before the U.S. could use them, and/or
C) retaliate with a full nuclear weapon as an overkill response if we used the mini's to make a point militarily.

Wasn't that the reason(s) why the neutron bomb wasn't adopted and used?

[christx30]

32. Or, D) sell them them on the black market to groups like ISIS. n/t

[Kittycow]

36. I think you're right about ISIS getting mini-nukes...

That's really a frightening thought!

[christx30]

37. And with mini nukes like Trump wants to build

out in the world, it would give trump cover to do things that make the Patriot Act look tame. It'll make his travel ban look positively by comparison.
I know Trump would love to let that genie out of its bottle.

[Calista241]

43. Mini-nukes are nothing new.

We've had very small, artillery fired nuclear weapons since the 60's. They were phased out of the US inventory in the 90's after the cancellation of the W82 warhead program in 1991.

Still, that doesn't make it a good idea to re-develop the technology.

[sinkingfeeling]

5. Sorry, but there is nothing to warrant this capacity.

[sandensea]

6. Depleted uranium.

The secret sauce behind Dubya's shock and awe.

[procon]

10. Yeah, and there was damn little coverage of what that stuff did

(and continues to do) to living things. The use of such evil weapons should be classified as a war crime.

[sandensea]

11. Hear, hear.

But the Bush regime was, if nothing else, proof that some presidents (and their accomplices) really are above the law.

[paleotn]

25. Depleted uranium...

primarily U-238, is extremely dense. Far denser than lead, tungsten or other metals, thus, in the world of high energy physics, it gives far more punch for a given size once it is hardened. It is the absolute best for cracking open armored vehicles......but, it's also a deadly heavy metal. So, upon impact, it's like scattering mercury and lead all over the place. Since it's so good at punching holes in tanks, no one really worried too much about the aftermath. Same old song, 278th verse.

[Abu Pepe]

7. Trump has long been fascinated with nukes

One of my biggest fear is that he will use nuclear weapons.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

14. "If we have them why can't we use them?"

from PoliticusUSA, Aug. 3, 1016:

If you are not already terrified by the prospect of a Trump presidency, perhaps this latest revelation will wake you up.

We have already seen that Trump has no problem increasing the availability of nukes, after decades of nuclear non-proliferation efforts. But this is worse. Much worse. Because it turns out, he doesn’t understand why he can’t use them.

According to Joe Scarborough Wednesday morning, a foreign policy expert was trying to advise Trump and three times in a one-hour briefing, Trump asked, speaking of nuclear weapons, “If we have them why can’t we use them?”

Source: [link:http://www.politicususa.com/2016/08/03/trump-asks-if-nuclear-weapons-them.html]

The man has no moral center, no sense of history, no curiosity about the science behind nuclear weapons and the purpose of nuclear disarmament. He just wants to be able to use the HUGEST weapons (remember the "Mother of All Bombs"?) against people with darker complexions. He's going to go down in history as the rightful successor to Hitler, and with good reason.

And Congress (especially the Republicans) will do nothing about it. Don't piss off Trump's base, y'know, no matter how crazy racist they are.

So many things to protest, so little time.

[Brother Buzz]

8. Oh boy, bring back the Davy Crockett!

There was a reason we retired these wickedly stupid things.

[paleotn]

30. ++++++++++10000

Seems we're having to learn those lessons all over again.

[procon]

9. That's insane. The half life of the radiation still remains the same no matter

what size bomb is used. The spread of death and destruction might change, but the lethal radiation remains for several millennium.

[Thor_MN]

12. That asshole really wants to pop one off to ensure his place in history.

[SCVDem]

13. What they're talking about

is bringing back the neutron bomb. President Carter cancelled this in 77.


https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-neutron-bomb-604308

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

15. That makes sense. A neutron bomb kills people without damaging buildings.

From Gizmodo:

Though It Seems Crazy Now, the Neutron Bomb Was Intended to Be Humane

Until the day he died, physicist Samuel Cohen declared that his invention, the neutron bomb, was a "moral" and "sane" weapon that would kill enemy combatants, while sparing civilians and cities. But, despite the support of fans like Ronald Reagan, this weapon of not-as-much mass destruction proved to be a hard sell.

Although Samuel Cohen never achieved the fame of Robert Oppenheimer and Edward Teller, he had been part of the U.S. nuclear weapons program from its very inception. He had worked on the Manhattan Project, where he performed calculations related to the atomic bomb's yield of neutrons. After the war, he was a consultant at the Rand Corporation.

According to his memoir, Shame: Confessions of the Father of the Neutron Bomb, he hit upon his idea during a 1951 visit to Seoul, where he witnessed the devastation of the Korean War: "The question I asked of myself was something like: If we're going to go on fighting these damned fool wars in the future, shelling and bombing cities to smithereens and wrecking the lives of their surviving inhabitants, might there be some kind of nuclear weapon that could avoid all this?"
A Kinder, Gentler Nuke

Cohen's invention was, essentially, a smaller, "fun-sized" version of a hydrogen bomb with a few simple modifications under the hood.
----------
A "fun-sized" nuclear bomb? Sheesh! What world do these people live in?

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. Worth reading to the end for the title Cohen gave his memoirs ... (nt)

[htuttle]

16. "You ever hear of the neutron bomb?"

"Destroys people - leaves buildings standing. Fits in a suitcase. It's so small, no one knows it's there until - BLAMMO. Eyes melt, skin explodes, everybody dead. So immoral, working on the thing can drive you mad. "

[bucolic_frolic]

17. Ike's Generals were advocating use of nukes

Ike wasn't buying it.

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

18. Deterrent my arse - using it would just end up being a big game of "my wee wee is bigger than

your wee wee," with dire consequences. A bunch of severely sexually dysfunctional males wielding any size nuke - not a good idea.

[rurallib]

21. sounds to me like Trump could act like a terrorist with a small nuke

to drop where and when he feels like it.

this is freaking scary, scary, scary.

[JonLP24]

20. This only helps nK propaganda

[Rollo]

22. I wonder if Trump will be throwing the first nuclear hand grenade...

?


.

[ut oh]

26. Well ya know

He has to be the bigly, smartest, most know it all, so of course he would need to be firstest too....

They'll call it... oh I got it... 'A PreTrumptive Strike' (TM).

Big ol' MAGA sticker on the side of the bomb...

[dembotoz]

23. Mini nuke for his mini hands

[Aristus]

24. Since we are without a doubt planning to build and use weapons of mass destruction,

would another country be able invade us and use the Bush Doctrine as justification?

[milestogo]

27. Bunch of witless HAWKS making decisions that will have a negative effect on the whole world.

[TEB]

28. What is this fucks problem with nukes

We went down the rabbit hole in Japan. But then we were the only ones on earth with nukes I have no clue if aliens still use nuclear power they probably progressed and our way past cold fusion , this fucktard and the boy band wanna be should really stop and one get a better hair cut ,And two read the personal testimonies of survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. it's been along time probably 15 years since I read that book I found it at used book store. And after I read it seriously I would look at our girls then still young kids and I would think about a testimony of a young Japanese girl I read the horror she expiernced and who in 1945 that time was around our daughters age in 2002. Her word reached me across decades and I would think hope it never happened again.

[Hoyt]

31. Well, we are the only country to have killed innocent women and children with nukes.

[paleotn]

33. Didn't we and the Russians learn this lesson decades ago?

Tactical nukes lead in only one direction....a strategic nuclear exchange....full stop. Though modern conventional weapons cause massive carnage on a human scale, the damage is still limited all along the escalation curve by the laws of physics and chemistry. They can only deliver so much bang. Nukes are a whole different ballgame. We and the Russians learned long ago that tactical nukes only lead to an inevitable exchange of strategic weapons....and worse, make that exchange more likely. We nuke someone's forces, and they're going to nuke ours...and on and on until we start slinging ICBMs at each others cities. Thus, not only are they an incredible waste of time and money, they make the unthinkable...a "limited exchange"...thinkable. Hopefully, the powers that be will once again discover that fact.

[democratisphere]

34. Only the criminally insane would consider such an option.

[pangaia]

35. A high-level panel created by President Donald Trump....isn't that an oxycotinmoran?

[dchill]

38. I recommend something very, very small...

that tastes good with burnt steak and ketchup.

[xor]

39. Tactical nuclear weapons were also considered during the Vietnam War

They decided using them would only encourage the North Vietnamese (or whoever) to obtain their own nukes and also normalize their usage. I don't think that has changed at all.

[raven mad]

40. Face it.

He makes more money if he starts a war, and as a frustrated 3-year-old, he wants war.

[Sunlei]

41. trumps a HUGE FAILURE as "Commander in Chief". After he slaughtered moms & infants-he turned over

authorizing war stuff to REPUBLICAN controlled military brass and WAR-MONGER 'for profit' cheney-like Corporations.

THOSE WAR MONGERS WILL SUCK AWAY ALL OF AMERICAS FEDERAL and STATE MONEY for their for profit-war-contractor businesses.

[sofa king]

42. Because when you're totally ignorant...

... all things are possible.