Trump review leans toward proposing mini-nuke
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
(23,282 posts)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
(115,674 posts)brush
(53,467 posts)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
(6,033 posts)no_hypocrisy
(45,771 posts)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
(6,241 posts)Kittycow
(2,396 posts)That's really a frightening thought!
christx30
(6,241 posts)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
(5,584 posts)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
(51,275 posts)sandensea
(21,526 posts)The secret sauce behind Dubya's shock and awe.
procon
(15,805 posts)(and continues to do) to living things. The use of such evil weapons should be classified as a war crime.
sandensea
(21,526 posts)But the Bush regime was, if nothing else, proof that some presidents (and their accomplices) really are above the law.
paleotn
(17,778 posts)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
(637 posts)One of my biggest fear is that he will use nuclear weapons.
LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,538 posts)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 doesnt understand why he cant 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 cant 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
(36,212 posts)There was a reason we retired these wickedly stupid things.
paleotn
(17,778 posts)Seems we're having to learn those lessons all over again.
procon
(15,805 posts)what size bomb is used. The spread of death and destruction might change, but the lethal radiation remains for several millennium.
Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)SCVDem
(5,103 posts)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
(12,538 posts)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
(101,149 posts)htuttle
(23,738 posts)"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
(42,661 posts)Ike wasn't buying it.
Kashkakat v.2.0
(1,752 posts)your wee wee," with dire consequences. A bunch of severely sexually dysfunctional males wielding any size nuke - not a good idea.
rurallib
(62,343 posts)to drop where and when he feels like it.
this is freaking scary, scary, scary.
JonLP24
(29,322 posts)Rollo
(2,559 posts)?
.
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
(16,734 posts)Aristus
(66,075 posts)would another country be able invade us and use the Bush Doctrine as justification?
milestogo
(16,829 posts)TEB
(12,716 posts)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
(54,770 posts)paleotn
(17,778 posts)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
(17,235 posts)pangaia
(24,324 posts)dchill
(38,318 posts)that tastes good with burnt steak and ketchup.
xor
(1,204 posts)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
(4,940 posts)He makes more money if he starts a war, and as a frustrated 3-year-old, he wants war.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)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
(10,857 posts)... all things are possible.