US test-fires Trident missile in drill with Saudis

[Nuclear Unicorn]

Source: Washington Post

By SALAH NASRAWI
The Associated Press
Wednesday, March 31, 2010; 12:11 PM

CAIRO -- The United States test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads during a joint military exercise Wednesday with Saudi Arabia, a Western military official said.

The Trident missile launch was carried out in the kingdom, the official said, but he would not give a precise location. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The U.S. has been strengthening missile defenses in allied Arab nations in the Gulf to help counter any potential missile strike from Iran. Like its nuclear work, Iran's missile program is of top concern to Washington and Arab nations wary of Tehran's growing influence in the region.

A defense official in Washington confirmed the missile launch on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record. He said, however, that it took place late last week and was part of a demonstration.


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/31/AR2010033101877.html

---

1. Sorry to DU and mods for less than 100% attention to guidelines

2. WTF?!?!?!?

This is the most disappointing thing Obama has ever done. Saber-rattling is always a bad idea but when you rattle nuclear sabers it's absolutely deplorable. All the talk about wanting a nuke-free planet seems so hollow and cheap now.

PLAYING WITH TOYS THAT CAN EXTERMINATE THE PLANET IS NOT A JOKE OR AN EXERCISE

NOT IN MY NAME

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

1. All nuclear weapons should be destroyed! no country has the right to use them!

Nothing is more important to our common future.

[Vincent441]

29. not realistic

[proteus_lives]

38. Good luck getting a county to go first.

[KansDem]

2. Have the Saudis given up flying airliners into tall buildings?

:shrug:

[ixion]

3. Test firing Freedom Missles of Liberation with a brutal monarchy

that's some freedom! :eyes:

[Nuclear Unicorn]

4. Sometimes...

...you have to incinerate 3 billion people to keep them free.

[CLANG]

5. People should calm down

We test these things from time to time. We are signing a treaty (hopefully) to lower the number of warheads with Russia, but we still and will still for some time (if not forever) have some. They need to be periodically test-fired for any number of reasons.

[pasto76]

6. we've already signed that, and you're correct

we test these things from time to time. Please everyone note that Tridents are nuclear platforms, but not exclusively. Plenty of tridents were fired during the invasion of iraq, none carried nukes.

deterrence works. It worked with Saddam for years, it works with N Korea, it worked with the Soviet Union for decades.

I am against the use of nuclear (not 'nucular') weapons for any reason.


SGT PASTO

[CLANG]

13. You're right - I should have said ratified, not signed.

[muriel_volestrangler]

28. That's incorrect - Trident is a ballistic missile not used during the Iraq invasion

In 2008, it was proposed that non-nuclear warheads for Trident be developed - because at the moment there are none.

Perhaps you're thinking of cruise missiles in the Iraq invasion.

Yes, they have to test the nuclear delivery system every now and then - but it's really worrying they're doing this in conjunction with Saudi Arabia. This must be a shot across Iran's bows, because who else would bethe target when you are showing to the Saudis that a ballistic missile strike would work OK? And they're doing it with the nuclear weapon. Not good.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

7. This isn't a test fire

this was a threat against Iran.

Why would the Saudis need to be part of a mere test?

[cowman]

8. And you know

this becaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuusssssssssssss?

[Nuclear Unicorn]

10. I read the a-a-a-a-article-e-e-e-e-e-e

We don't need to test missiles in Saudi Arabia, we have plenty of desert here and open oceans around the world.

The article even states it was to make a "demonstration" to "counter...Iran."

If it wasn't deliberate it was dumb beyond description.

Why test a nuke-capable missile in a part of the world already on edge? Not enough people to scare in the Utah desert or South Pacific?

[cowman]

12. OK you are correct.

I've actually seen one of those fired from a sub, pretty awesome sight

[CLANG]

15. I read the article too! The first line:

"The United States test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile..."

And of course it was a show of force to Iran, so what?

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Purveyor]

22. Let there be little doubt that the elavated price of oil/gasoline is directly related to the Iranian

War threat...

There are massive supplies of pumped oil in the world today which would normally keep the price down.

Kiss ANY economic recovery goodbye if we are stupid enough to do israels bidding and launch or participate in military strikes against Iran.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

9. They need to be destroyed, period! they don't need to be tested.

You have been conditioned from cradle to grave to believe this bullshit.

[cowman]

11. I agree with you but

only when other nations agree to go along and there is strict enforcement. I am not in favor of us being the only ones to destroy our deterent until other nations do so

[Nuclear Unicorn]

14. Why should they destroy theirs...

...when we're the ones running around "demonstrating" just off their coastlines?

If Iran tested a missile in the Mediterranean near Israel the RWers would be demanding bombing runs in 15 minutes.

If Bush had made this provacative "demonstration" we'd be moving to have him impeached before he could kill us all.

What does Iran have to lose by claiming it is threatened and needs its own deterent?

[cowman]

18. You misunderstand me

I'm talking about simultaneously all nations destroying them with strict enforcement

[Nuclear Unicorn]

20. That I'll drink to...

...and brother, I've needed a drink lately.

:toast:

[cowman]

24. I'd offer you

one but I think the LVFR might have a problem as I am on duty right now but here is this:beer:

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

19. That's the problem. That's why we need to destroy all nuclear weapons.

As I said before no country has the right to use them or have them. At some point they will be used.

[CLANG]

16. Yes, they do indeed need to be tested

And we will not destroy all of them until we can get Russia, China, and all other nuclear nation to go along with us. If you don't see the common sense in that approach, then you are blinded by your justifiable hatred of nuclear weapons.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

21. There is nothing common sense about suicide nuclear weapons.

Just a planet killer.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

23. This deserves its own chant:

Give me crabs!

Give me crabs!

Give me crabs!

[cowman]

26. I think

I'll leave that one alone

[CLANG]

25. I'm glad you're not in charge then...

[Nuclear Unicorn]

30. Better him than neocon bullies

I suppose if Tea partiers were standing outside Rep Lewis' campaign office shooting guns into the air some people might be right there saying, "they're just testing the reliability of their weapons and that is essential for keeping the peace."

[CLANG]

32. You really can't see the difference, can you?

[hunter]

27. Sounds like we are telling both Israel and Iran to tone it down.

Enough with the penis waving, boys...

[Nihil]

40. Can't see it the same way as you this time ...

> Sounds like we are telling both Israel and Iran to tone it down.
> Enough with the penis waving, boys...

To me, this is *precisely* a lot of penis waving (at Iran) on behalf
of the US's best buddies Saudi Arabia & Israel.

A *Trident* for f*cks sake?

How much more dick waving can you get than waggling one of the same
sort of things that Iran are allegedly pursuing?

:banghead:

[Peace Patriot]

31. Gee, such nice friends we have--Saudi Arabia, where women get stoned to death,

Colombia, where tens of thousands of union leaders, political leftists, human rights workers, community activists, peasant farmers and others have been murdered by the Colombian military ($7 BILLION in U.S. aid)--about half the murders*--and its closely tied rightwing paramilitary death squads--the other half--Honduras where up to 300 union leaders, political leftists, teachers and others, have been murdered by the rightwing military coup that the U.S. just endorsed with a cosmetic (under martial law) phony election, and Israel, which treats the Palestinians the way we treated Native Americans.

War games with the Saudis! A new, secretly negotiated military agreement with Colombia--basically providing for the U.S. occupation of Colombia. And on-going military bases and cooperation with the Honduran military which perpetrated the rightwing coup! And billions and billions and billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to all three, for armaments which they use to oppress their own people--and more to Israel (the biggest U.S. military aid package on earth; with Colombia coming in second).

This is AWFUL!

And I don't like to speak of horrible problems in U.S. policy without recommending a remedy. So here it is, Remedy No. 1: Get rid of the 'TRADE SECRET' voting machines! That won't solve everything, but transparent vote counting is THE most important condition for reform. Without, we cannot even begin the reforms that are needed. We must remedy this. We MUST. And it is still doable.

---------------

*(Including a mass grave of recent vintage containing up to 2,000 bodies, found in La Macarena, Colombia--an area of particular interest and activity by the U.S. military (and apparently the U.K. military as well). What on earth has been going on in Colombia, under cover of the corrupt, murderous, failed U.S. "war on drugs"? "Turkey shoot" training for Afghanistan? Local people says the bodies are of 'disappeared' local community activists.

The La Macarena massacre (includes a description of, and links to docs about, U.S. ops in La Macarena)
http://www.cipcol.org/?p=1303

The UK military connection
http://www.tribunemagazine.co.uk/2010/02/04/silence-on-british-army-link-to-colombian-mass-grave/ )

[bkozumplik]

33. verrry interesting

a trident "test firing" and a navy plane "crash" at the same exact time. What a coincidence. It's all training/testing huh.

[old mark]

34. So we are selling aircraft and missiles to the Saudis and showing them a demo of a TRIDENT?

Are we going to sell them ballistic missiles?

The Trident II, which is the model in service till 2040, is MIRV capable (Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicle), that is can be launched carrying several nuclear bombs targeted to separate targets using a GPS locater on each bomb delivery vehicle. Tridents are the US and Britain's submarine launched nuclear strike missiles.
Are we seriously selling the Saudis ballistic missiles?


mark

[Pavulon]

35. No we are not. We dont even export them to most nato countries

the UK may use a variant.

[old mark]

36. Britain uses our trident II with their own warheads - British nuclear science, you know....nt

[Pavulon]

37. We traded it for VX actually,

they traded crucial technology to the soviets over a game of pool.. really.

[old mark]

39. I'm not too concerned about the British, but I am relieved we are not selling

them to the Saudis....


mark