Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 43 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing Summarizing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 3/31/12

Imagining the Unthinkable

By       (Page 3 of 6 pages) Become a premium member to see this article and all articles as one long page.   3 comments

Stephen Lendman
Message Stephen Lendman
Become a Fan
  (190 fans)

This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.

The 2005 Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations remained unchanged. It removed the distinction between defensive and offensive deterrents, saying:

"The new triad (land and sea-based strategic bombers, land-based missiles, and ballistic missile submarines) offers a mix of strategic offensive and defensive capabilities, active and passive defenses, and a robust research development, and industrial infrastructure to develop, build, and maintain offensive forces and defensive systems....it provides additional military options."

NPR 2010 and current Obama policy leave land/sea/air triad deterrents unchanged. On high alert, nuclear missiles can be launched preemptively. 

So can bunker busters with conventional or nuclear capability, including the so-called 30,000 pound Mother of All Bombs "massive ordnance penetrator (MOP)." It's designed to penetrate up to 200 feet of reinforced concrete before detonating an enormous explosive blast.

If any nation launches enough thermonuclear warheads, humanity's threatened. Krieger and Ellsberg explained: 

"This is because smoke from the enormous nuclear firestorms created by even a 'successful' US nuclear first-strike would cause catastrophic disruption of global climate and massive destruction of the Earth's protective ozone layer, leading to global famine."

Helen Caldicott's books say enough nuclear explosions "would create nuclear winter, with the U.S. covered with a cloud so thick that it would block out the sun for years, and that would be the end." Other nuclear experts agree.

Nuclear bunker busters can do it. Krieger and Ellsberg said they cause huge underground nuclear explosions "with much blast and heat and radiation. It's called activation by neutrons--millions of tons of earth and dust--so you have a much greater radioactive fallout that's shot out into the air than you would if a bomb is exploded in the air above a city."

Atmospheric scientists Alan Robock, Brian Toon, and others say a large enough attack produces "immense firestorms" able to cover the planet in dense stratospheric smoke. Heated by the sun, it would remain at least 10 years and block sunlight from reaching the earth's surface. Mass starvation would follow.

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Must Read 2   Valuable 2   Well Said 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Stephen Lendman Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

VISIT MY WEBSITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.  My two Wall Street books are timely reading: "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter

Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

The McCain-Lieberman Police State Act

Daniel Estulin's "True Story of the Bilderberg Group" and What They May Be Planning Now

Continuity of Government: Coup d'Etat Authority in America

America Facing Depression and Bankruptcy

Lies, Damn Lies and the Murdoch Empire

Mandatory Swine Flu Vaccine Alert

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend