Bush overweegt nucleaire aanval op Iran

Maandag 10 April 2006 om 12:37

Pentagon planners are studying how to penetrate eight-foot-deep targets and are contemplating tactical nuclear devices. The Natanz facility consists of more than two dozen buildings, including two huge underground halls built with six-foot walls and supposedly protected by two concrete roofs with sand and rocks in between, according to Edward N. Luttwak, a specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Bijzonder verontrustend, dit artikel in de Washington Post. Het staat er zo terloops, haast tussen neus en lippen door: nucleaire wapens zijn nodig om door te dringen tot bepaalde, zeer goed beveiligde doelen. Het genoemde Natanz is een centrifuge plant, 300 kilometer ten zuiden van Teheran. In het complex vermoedt men een laboratorium met 50.000 centrifuges, waarmee ook kernwapens kunnen worden gemaakt. Ook de New Yorker bericht over de kwestie:

The Pentagon adviser on the war on terror confirmed that some in the Administration were looking seriously at this option, which he linked to a resurgence of interest in tactical nuclear weapons among Pentagon civilians and in policy circles. He called it “a juggernaut that has to be stopped.” He also confirmed that some senior officers and officials were considering resigning over the issue. “There are very strong sentiments within the military against brandishing nuclear weapons against other countries,” the adviser told me. “This goes to high levels.” (...) The adviser added, however, that the idea of using tactical nuclear weapons in such situations has gained support from the Defense Science Board, an advisory panel whose members are selected by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. “They’re telling the Pentagon that we can build the B61 with more blast and less radiation,” he said.