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Great Article on WWIII
By Charlie
Is the world more prone to global war now than it was during the height of the Cold War? Ron Rosenbaum thinks so in this piece from Slate:
He brings up the following points:
1. George Bush's Oct. 17 warning that "if you're interested in avoiding World War III," you ought to worry about the prospect of Iranian nukes.2….originally published two weeks earlier in London's usually reliable Spectator, in a story about the Sept. 6 Israeli raid on that alleged Syrian nuclear facility. A quote from a "very senior British ministerial source" contending, "[I]f people had known how close we came to world war three that day there'd have been mass panic."
3….. “a mistake" that came to light about the same time as the Israeli raid, the mistake in nuclear weapons handling, which allowed—for the first time in 40 years—six nuclear warheads to be flown over U.S. airspace, suspended from the wing of a long-range B-52 bomber en route from Minot, N.D., to Barksdale, La., a staging point for Mideast missions.
4…..And now we have the crisis in Pakistan, one that portends a nightmare scenario in which Pakistan's so-called "Islamic bomb" falls into the hands of al-Qaida sympathizers.
Well, keeping up with the existential nuclear nightmare-talk on the blog, I’ll throw in my two cents here and try to make it sound a little more reasoned than the exposition to Red Dawn.
My worry about Pakistan is that if Musharraf falls, AQ won’t just rush in and take over –they’ll take their time and take over. Bhutto (or some interim politician) will get into to office and praise the “success” of democracy. Meanwhile, AQ elements continue to gain power in the north, infiltrate the government, and basically hollow out the state and grow their base of support –all while Bhutto is in charge, not doing anything about it, and –most importantly- not letting anyone else do anything about it. Then, when the day comes for Pakistan to become the next seat of the Caliphate, it will take about 5 minutes for AQ to knock off whoever’ in charge and get the nukes.
The Israeli raid in Syria? Perhaps it was to take out a Syrian nuclear weapon mid-assembly, perhaps it was a dry run rehearsal of a larger operation to come.
The Air Force flying the nukes across the country? I’m pretty sure that was just a bad day for the Air Force, not a conspiracy. Why else would they sack the base commander?
Rosenbaum concludes:
I think this is the urgent debate question that should be posed to both parties' candidates. What happens if Pakistan falls into the hands of al-Qaida-inclined elements? What happens if Musharraf hands over the launch authorization codes before he's beheaded?I don't want to spoil your day, but all of this has spoiled mine, so I want to share, if you know what I mean. Since the "holiday from history," we have never been in greater danger of a nuclear breakout.
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Comments
I belive it was called "chrome dome" when the Air Force kept around 20percent of its bombers loaded with nukes and flying on station over the Arctic waiting on the "go" order. Funny how times change!
Much has been overblown about the incident in Minot AFB, It was a major screw up and I am sure some heads rolled for it. By the way when SAC was in charge this would have never happened! Or if it did, it would have been kept secret and god help those who were responsible!
We had a saying in SAC,"To error is human, to forgive is devine, neither of which is SAC's policy!"
Sir Charlie,
Given the CNN Pom-Pom waving drive by on Iran's Nuke "NO NOT US!" since 2003, it is even more dangerous than I first thought.
I am even more concerned now that the current admin. is talking about slashing Homeland's budget for things like port security. This does not set well given the current climate. OR, maybe this a crafty On-fa-sant if you play the game, even with the mis-spell you know what I mean.
Cheers,
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Well, seeing as you're talking about nukes...