Israel has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons. Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear “bunker-busters”, according to several Israeli military sources.While it's unsurprising to see that Israel has such plans available, it's surprising to see it reported like this, though there are some guesses as to why this was released:
The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Israeli weapons would each have a force equivalent to one-fifteenth of the Hiroshima bomb.
Under the plans, conventional laser-guided bombs would open “tunnels” into the targets. “Mini-nukes” would then immediately be fired into a plant at Natanz, exploding deep underground to reduce the risk of radioactive fallout.
“As soon as the green light is given, it will be one mission, one strike and the Iranian nuclear project will be demolished,” said one of the sources.
However, the nuclear-tipped bunker-busters would be used only if a conventional attack was ruled out and if the United States declined to intervene, senior sources said.One important point to note from the beginning... Though these plans are being made to stop Iran from possibly launching nuclear missiles meant to destroy Israel and all its inhabitants, Israel is specifically using less powerful missiles which likely have a higher risk of failure in their mission to avoid fallout which would hurt Iranian citizens. Even when faced with destruction, Israel goes out of its way to be the most moral nation.
Israeli and American officials have met several times to consider military action. Military analysts said the disclosure of the plans could be intended to put pressure on Tehran to halt enrichment, cajole America into action or soften up world opinion in advance of an Israeli attack.
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I'm hoping the fact that this is public means they won't actually do it. Nuclear weapons have almost always made more sense as a deterrent than as weapons. I would support a U.S. or Israeli surgical strike of Iranian nuclear sites if practical, but I fear the use of nukes by anyone would have terrible consequences for the world. The longer we can delay nuclear weapons being acceptable, the better.
ReplyDeleteThat could very well be. It could also be a simple "up the world expectations" idea - if they carry out the attack, but manage to do so without nukes, the reaction may be "well, at least they didn't use nukes". I guess we'll have to see...
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